Above's Missing Pieces
by ginnyjaffa
Summary: Little chapters that fill in part of the gap between the end and the epilogue of Above and Beyond. Lily, James and the gang see the new people arriving, make unexpected visits, heal relationships and try to fill in the missing pieces.
1. Healing

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER! YOU KNOW IT, AND (SADLY) I KNOW IT!**

**A/N: **these are some of the stories that i skipped over before the epilogue in Above and Beyond. You don't need to have read Above and Beyond, but it does provide background info.

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**LILY**

"James, I don't know about this."

"Lil, this was your idea and you have to stick to it."

"I know. It's just that…" I hesitated, "I don't know what she'll do. How will she react, seeing me here? It's not like we were on the best terms when we last saw each other."

"That's true, but you're her family, and no matter how she acts or what she says, she loves you." He took my hand as we stepped up to the gate to the muggle Above, "make sure you remember that. She loves you, no matter who you are or what you do. Everything else she says is just crap."

I laughed, "I guess that's right. But it's Petunia, you know what she thinks of me. I'm nothing more then a freak to her. And her whale of a husband hates me."

"Well who gives a flying fuck what he thinks of you." James almost sounded angry, "You're an amazing person. You're gorgeous and talented and if he can't see that, then it's probably because he can't turn his head to look at you properly because of that fat neck." He grinned and I giggled, then he continued more seriously, "Lily, you shouldn't worry about what they are going to say, or what they think about you. You're just here to talk to them. She's your sister and she only just arrived. But it doesn't matter what they say. I'm here for you and I always will be."

I smiled as he kissed the top of my head, "Thanks James." I managed to murmur before I heard a familiar voice.

"Lily, what are you doing here?"

Just hearing her was painful. I had always loved Petunia. She was my older sister and I had looked up to her from day one. We were best friends when we were younger, but then I got my Hogwarts letter and it all went downhill from there. She was jealous of the fact that I could to magic, she hated Severus because he wasn't neat or attractive and to hide all that, she would refer to me as 'freak' for the rest of our lives.

But I saw through her pretences, I always had. And I could hear it now, in her voice. She had seen the affection James still showed me, even after all these years and I knew from her tone that Vernon never showed her the caring gestures that she wanted.

I sighed and turned to see her standing in front of me and James, her arms crossed in front of her, glaring at us. Vernon was standing behind her, his already small eyes narrowed so that I could barely see them even though he was standing only a few feet away.

"I'm here to see you, Petunia. You just arrived and I wanted to see how you're doing."

"I'm fine." She huffed, "Vernon is taking care of me like he always has. Not that I can't do it myself."

I looked at James, begging him to help me get through to her, but he just gave me a small smile and a look that said, _you can do this without me._

"Petunia, you just arrived and I know how hard it is to get used to it all—"

"You know how hard it is?" she looked shocked, "I am here today but I was perfectly fine two days ago. I was cleaning the kitchen and I had a horrible pain in my chest, then I was here. My boy is still down there," she pointed frantically to the ground, "and my darling grandchildren will have only four years of memories with me in them!"

She was gasping for air as if she had run a marathon by the time she had finished her mini-rant. I just stared at her. I don't know how hard it is? I don't know how _hard it is?_

James seemed to be thinking the same thing because he finally spoke in a quiet voice that was strangely intimidating. "Excuse me? We don't know how hard it is to be here? Do you even _know_ why your sister and I are here? Why we aren't down on earth with our son, the boy who we never got to see grow up?"

She hesitated for a moment and she almost seemed to regret what she said, but then the pity I saw in her eyes was gone. "Yes, I know why you are here. You were living in a dangerous world and you didn't live carefully enough. You were killed by another one of your crazy _freaks. _I don't know what you did but Harry was fine without you. Living with Vernon and I did wonders for him. Too bad we couldn't keep him out of that wretched school. He was—"

Suddenly, someone was yelling at me, "LILY! JAMES!"

We both turned to see Sirius standing at the gates, waving at us. He obviously couldn't get in, seeing as he was a pure blood.

I glared at James, "What is he doing here?"

"Don't look at me! I didn't invite him."

"Did you tell him what we were doing today?"

He smiled sheepishly, "Maybe…"

"James! Why would you tell him? I just wanted to speak to Petunia privately."

"You invited me."

I sighed, "You're my husband and I need you for moral support. You know how hard this is for me and how serious it is. Sirius doesn't understand that. You can't even mention the word serious with you best mate making some stupid joke that he has been saying for about 70 years!"

We turned to look at him and he was still waving. James smiled at me, "Just bring him in, Lils. Then we can tell him to go away."

"Yes please do." Vernon interrupted, "We didn't want to see you to begin with, and we didn't even think about your freak friends."

James turned to glare at the oversized man, "No one asked you, Dursley. Why don't you just shut that gigantic hole you call a mouth and get your fat arse out of other people's business."

Dursley's face turned a faint purple and Petunia looked outraged. I swallowed a smile and ignored them to let Sirius in. As soon as he stepped through the gates, I was yelling at him.

"Why are you here!? No one invited you! Do you not know the meaning of privacy?!"

He grinned, "Calm down, flower. I'm here to support you, I know how hard this is for you and I wanted to be here."

"Oh," I said, taken aback slightly, "Well, thanks Sirius. I appreciate that, but I'm alright. James is here anyway."

"That's why I thought it was best if I was here. You should know that our Jamesie doesn't exactly have the best temper." He staged whispered to me and James rolled his eyes.

Sirius straightened up before any of us could say anything further and looked at my sister and her husband. "Hi Dursley, have you been working out? You look bulkier then last time I saw you. Oh no, maybe it's just because you've been eating all the food that was supposed to go to Harry."

James snickered by I sent him a look and he shut up. The Dursley's looked outraged, "How dare you!" Petunia hissed, "We took care of Harry like he was our own son! He was always given enough to eat and clothes to wear. We gave him Dudley's room to sleep in out of the goodness of our hearts."

Sirius snorted, "The amount of goodness in your hearts combined would just be enough to fill my little finger. Sure, Harry had clothes, but they were always Dudley's old ones that were about four sizes too big for him. And you only gave him _just _enough to eat so that he wouldn't die. When I first met him he was skinnier then James was at thirteen, and that's saying something."

"Skinnier then me?" James yelled, "I had to wear three tops on the warmest days because I had no body fat to keep me warm when I was thirteen. I was a very fussy eater. Were you feeding him at all? Or was this great buffoon hoovering it all up like a vacuum cleaner?"

That was when I noticed the vain on Vernon's head. I was sticking out of his forehead incredibly obviously. If I wasn't so horrified at how my sister treated my son, I would have laughed.

"And as for the bedroom," Sirius said, "You only let him have _darling Dudley's_ room because Harry had outgrown the coat cupboard he was originally in!"

"THAT'S IT!" Petunia yelled, "I don't know who you are or why you are here, but you don't know anything! That boy was dumped on my doorstep one night with a note from a stranger saying that my sister was dead and that I had to take care of her son. I didn't have a choice, but I cared for him like he deserved."

"Like he deserved?" I couldn't get my voice above a whisper, "What they hell did he do to you?"

She stared at me, "You don't know how hard it was to care for him, to take him in."

"I don't know how hard it was?" I choked out, "Do you even know what I went through to keep my son safe? Do you have any idea what _he_ has been through? All those years he stayed with you, he was facing death time and time again and he would come back to your house to be completely ignored and fed the scraps of your meals?"

"So what did you go through?" she demanded in a snide voice that I had never heard you use before, "What was so hard?"

The words got stuck in my throat as I thought of that night. The shouts, those bright red eyes, and the flash of green.

"You really want to know?" James whispered. "We were perfectly happy, having a wonderful Halloween. Harry was laughing, not a care in the world…until I door was blown off its hinges. I ran into the hallway to protect my family because we knew that a man was after us. This wasn't just some crazed loony who was just one of us. He was a killer. He was a monster and no one could believe that once upon a time he was just a normal boy."

Sirius cut in then, "He was the most evil wizard of all time. He stared two separate wars in the Wizarding World. He had white skin, with long, skinny fingers that wrapped around his wand like it was a mere twig before he killed you. His nose was merely two slits like a snake's. His eyes were bright red and thin like a cat's and they showed no remorse in killing anyone, man, woman, or children. His name was not uttered by anyone because it carried such dark feelings and evil thoughts. Lord Voldemort."

He stopped when both the Dursley's looked scared to his satisfaction.

I found my voice then, "We don't know why Voldemort was after Harry, but we were told by the headmaster of Hogwarts that we had to go into hiding because Voldemort wanted our son. So we lived in a little town with muggles in a house that was protected by numerous charms so no one could see it or enter it without the password. We didn't leave from the moment we stepped inside. We were isolated for months."

"Is that why you never visited when Dudley was born?" Petunia asked in a small voice.

I nodded, "That Halloween, when the door was broken down, we knew immediately who it was. James ran out of the room to face him, telling me to take Harry and run." I had to swallow back the tears that were forming without permission in my eyes and James wrapped an arm around me. I took a deep breath and continued, "Neither of us had our wands, which were the only way we could defend ourselves. I made it up the stairs with Harry before I heard the words that ended James's life." Petunia's eyes widened and Vernon just looked pale, "With my husband gone, I knew I only had to protect Harry so I took him into his nursery and put him in his cot. Then I stood in front of him and refused to move. Not when Voldemort came in and I saw his eyes that still haunt me now, not when he threatened, not when he told me to move aside or die."

A single tear slipped out of my eye and I hurried to wipe it away. "I wouldn't move so he killed me, just like that. One minute I was standing in front of my son, the next, I was lying on the ground here and my little boy was facing the world's most dangerous wizard all alone for the next 16 years of his life." I looked up to glare at her shocked face, "And you think I don't know how hard it is to be here or how hard it was to care for him. I would have given anything to be on earth still and care for my son. Instead, James and I were stuck up here, spending everyday wondering if that day would be the day we saw our son's name on the screen because he was killed trying to save the Wizarding World."

There was silence as the Dursley's stared at me. It was a lot to process, but they needed to know.

"But you said that he was facing this Voldemort person for the next 16 years. He was living with us and we never knew about it." Vernon said gruffly.

"Well no shit." Sirius said, "You didn't care about him or what went on at his 'freak school'. Did you know that in his first year at Hogwarts, he had just made some great friends who didn't care that he was incredibly famous, and then he finds out that one of his teachers has Voldemort living in the back of his head? Voldemort was just a spirit at the time because he had almost been killed when he tried to get Harry as a baby, so he lived in another human to stay alive. Then Harry has to fight them off and only just survives."

Both Petunia and Vernon were pale as ghosts as Sirius continued and I could tell that he was enjoying himself. "The next year, Harry's best friend Ron's sister is taken down into a secret chamber that has been under Hogwarts for a millennium but only a few people knew about it. Turns out Voldemort knew about it when he was at school so through a diary, so, because he is still a spirit, he possesses Ron's sister Ginny and almost kills her. Luckily, Harry and Ron were there to save her life, though then Harry had to fight off a gigantic snake which almost killed him again.

"His third year is one of my favourites because that's where I come in. Fortunately Harry doesn't fight Voldy this year, instead he gets told that his godfather, that's me," Sirius pointed to himself, "is the reason his parents are dead and has escaped from prison to come after him. Of course that was a load of farce, but he only found that out after he discovered that Ron's pet rat was actually a person and _that_ person was the reason these two were dead. Then Harry and his other friend Hermione rescue me from being arrested, and Harry saves me from having my soul sucked out."

The Dursley's looked like they were going to be sick, but the boys were having too much fun to stop. It was like they were trying to see who could make them sick first.

James took his turn, "Harry's fourth year was a big one. He got accidentally picked for a tournament that was deadly and dangerous, even though he was three years young. He managed to almost win the first two challenges, but then on the last challenge, he and the other Hogwarts competitor were transported to a grave yard. Here, Voldemort killed Cedric, the other competitor and Harry's friend, right before Harry's eyes, then Voldemort came back to power by getting a new body. Then he made Harry duel with him but Harry managed to escape."

"His fifth year, was tough because everyone, including the papers were calling him a liar about Voldemort's return. He had a terrible school year but you don't care about that. Then, he has a dream that Voldemort had captured Sirius, and was torturing him to the death. So naturally, seeing as he is a brave and strong Potter, Harry and his friends travel across the country to save him, only to walk into a trap set up by Voldy and his mask-wearing followers. They all duel and Harry and his friends were losing until Sirius and some other good guys arrived and saved the day. Only problem was that Sirius was killed by his evil cousin and so Harry came home to your wonderful hospitality of baggy clothes and no food with his last family member dead."

Sirius picked it up again, "He had a rather good year in his sixth year, until the end of the year when he went on a mission with the headmaster to get a piece of Voldemort's soul that he had hidden. He and Dumbledore, that's the headmaster, we almost drowned by enchanted dead people, then when they arrived back at Hogwarts, Dumbledore was killed right in front of Harry by a man that they all trusted. Then the Voldemort's followers arrived and had a battle with all the students and many of Harry's friends were hurt. After Dumbledore's funeral, Harry had to dump his girlfriend because he cared about her too much and didn't want her to be hurt by Voldemort from being connected to him. He had a huge mission to finish for Dumbledore and even though he didn't want them to, his fiercely loyal friends told him they would stay with him no matter what."

"In his last year, he didn't go back to school." James said, "He finally left your place and went straight to his best mate's brother's wedding. Even then Voldemort came to find him so had to escape and couldn't tell anyone goodbye. He and Ron and Hermione started their mission to find the six other pieces of Voldemort's souls so that Harry could finally kill him because Harry was the only person in the entire world who could do it, so he had the weight of the universe on his shoulders. Should we tell them what he had to go through in those ten months Padfoot?"

Sirius pretended to ponder for a minute and then said, ignoring Petunia shaking her head, "I guess we should. Lets see…so after Voldemort's followers tried to capture him, Harry has to break into the Ministry of Magic, which incidentally was looking out for him because they were being controlled by Voldemort and he and his friends were almost captured."

"Then he visited Godric's Hollow which is where we lived when Voldemort killed us," James continued, indicating to himself and me, "he came to our graves and we heard him speak to us and we heard him cry." He swallowed, "After that he and his friend were trapped by a woman who it turns out actually had died a long time ago and had Voldemort's snake living inside of her, and Harry and Hermione managed to escape just in time before Voldemort himself arrived to kill them."

"When they paid a visit to their friend from school's house," Sirius said, "they were tricked by her father and again they escaped just before could capture them and his house blew up." He laughed quietly and I sighed. Leave Sirius to find something like that funny. "Then they were captured by followers of Voldy and taken to the house of one of Harry's enemies whose father happened to be one of The Dark Lord's most trusted followers. They tortured Hermione, had locked some of Harry's friends in a dungeon and just as they managed to get away, a house elf that Harry had saved and who had saved him was killed. So they had to bury him and even though they were finally in the comfort of the proper home of Ron's older brother, they couldn't stay."

James laughed, "This is my favourite bit. They broke into the most secure bank in the World and managed to get another bit of Voldy's soul and escape on a dragon. Then Dumbledore's long lost brother helped them get into Hogwarts which had been controlled in the year by the Death Eater that killed Dumbledore."

"And once they got into Hogwarts, they got all the students together to fight against Voldemort and the bad guys. Harry discovered that Dumbledore's killer was actually a good guy and that Dumbledore that told him to kill him. Harry watched him die and he then discovered that he had to turn himself in to Voldemort and let him kill him."

I swallowed and said my part, "Harry was only knocked unconscious by the killing curse but he had to pretend to be dead so that he could find a way to kill Voldemort. Finally he was able to do it by Voldemort's killing curse rebounding and hitting him instead of Harry. The battle was over, but around 50 people had been killed defending Harry." I smiled proudly, "My son saved the world."

There was a stunned silence from my sister and her husband. I knew it was a lot to take in but they needed to know how great my boy was and how he actually had saved the Wizarding World numerous times while living under their roof.

"I gave up my life so that my son could live and it was the best decision I ever made." I murmured, "He lived and he made the Wizarding World a safe place, safer then it had been for over 50 years. Although, those 17 years were the hardest I had ever endured because James and I were up here with no contact to him and helpless to the evil he was facing." I looked Petunia in the eye, "And you think we don't know how hard it is."

…………………………………………………..

"We will come back soon, okay? I still think we have a lot to catch up on."

Petunia nodded with a little smile and I was relieved to see that she wanted me to come and visit again just as much as I wanted to see her.

For the past hour we talked about our boys and their lives now. Petunia and Vernon did realise how hard those first years were for James and I and they were slightly sorry about how they had treated Harry. Sirius had finally left us to ourselves, after pretending to jinx them with bad luck for the next four years. I made a mental note to have a good talk to him about that.

After we told them about all that he had gone through, it had finally sunk in that they didn't know him like they thought they did and they had gone about caring for him wrongly.

"Thinking back, he did seem quite down and he was very quiet after his last few years." Petunia had murmured after we asked them how he had acted, coming back to their house at the end of each year, "We didn't realise what he had been through, we just thought he was moody or it was something about a girl or some magic thing. Dudley used to tease him about talking in his sleep and we just let it happen because…well I don't really know why."

She had looked up at us shyly, "He just looked so much like his father, and all I could remember of you, James," she seemed to have a little bit of trouble getting out his name, "Was how you had caused mischief at my wedding and then at yours with all you weird magic and I guess that barred my view of the real Harry. But he did have your eyes, Lily. And sometimes when he looked at me it was almost like you were there instead of him. I could have not picked him up that night. I could have pretended that I wasn't home or I could have taken him to an orphanage, but I didn't."

"That's what I had always wondered." James had admitted, "why did you actually bother to care for him even in the slightest if you knew he was a wizard and he looked so much like me. Why didn't you just dump him somewhere else? Not that I would have wanted them to." He added hastily to me, seeing my glare.

Petunia had hesitated, "Well, when I first saw him, he was sleeping and all I could see was you, James. But then I read the letter and I realised that my sister was dead. And even though I had been so horrible to you from the moment you got your letter to that school, Lily, I did love you and you were still my sister so it hurt to find you were gone. When I picked him up, I was wondering where I could leave him so I didn't have to care for him because I didn't know if I could stand raising my sister's baby because I didn't know if it would be too painful for me.

"But then he opened his eyes and I saw how much they were like yours. The exact colour and shape. He didn't even cry. And when I looked at them, I realised that I had to take him in, because you were my sister and you were so good to me, even though I was awful to you and I wanted to do something nice for you. And well, it was the only way I could keep a part of you with me."

I was touched that she had thought that and she had actually said those things. I had known that she did feel those things and thought them but she had never said them out loud to me and I knew how hard it was for her.

"Bye, Petunia." I said now, turning to leave, "I will see you soon."

She nodded and reached out to hug me. We hadn't hugged since I was eleven and it felt so nice to finally be able to do it again.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, "For everything I did to you and to Harry."

"It's okay," I assured her, "I never held you responsible for those things and I know that you never knew the true story. I'm sorry that I never tried harder with you."

"You shouldn't have had to try." She said, "I should have not let any of those emotions effect me like they did. I guess that once you became a witch, I couldn't see through that and I regret not trying."

I pulled back to smile at her and I saw that she had tears in her eyes. "You'll always be my sister, Tuney." I smiled, using my old nickname for her and a single tear escaped and ran down her cheek, "I never blamed you because you were my sister and I love you."

She nodded, too choked up to speak and I squeezed her hand before turning to head through the gates. "Bye Vernon," I said, with no emotion in my voice, "I shall be seeing you soon."

He grunted a good bye as James took my hand. I looked up to see him nodding to them. "Bye Petunia, good bye…Vernon."

I tried not to smile at how he had to force his name out. They both murmured a farewell and James and I stepped out of the gate and walked back home, where I collapsed on the bed heavily.

"Thank Merlin that's over."

James laughed, "See, that wasn't so bad. After we got all the yelling out of the way it all went very smoothly."

I rolled over to glare at him, "How can you be so casual about this? I saw my sister today for the first time in almost 70 years and all she could do was yell at me for the first ten minutes."

"It wasn't that awful, Lil. Sure, she was wrong but we soon got that straightened out. You were wonderful. You held strong the whole time. You didn't even need me there." He smiled when I rolled my eyes. "At least you took the first step to patching up your relationship. That's the main thing."

"Yes," I agreed with a sigh, "That's the main thing."

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**A/N: **you know what to do! push that button and make me very happy! the happier i am the faster the stories come!


	2. Forgiving

**DISCLAIMER: i do not own these characters!**

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LILY

I walked into the living room slowly to see James lying on the couch reading a Quidditch magazine. I stood there in the doorway for a second, smiling at the familiar sight, it was always the same for James: the last update on Quidditch, sprawling out on the couch, and waiting for me to start cooking dinner. It was always the same, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Snapping myself out of my sappy trance, I took a deep breath, steeling myself for what I was about to do. I knew he wouldn't take it lightly, considering last time. He was my husband and I loved him, but sometimes he just didn't know what was best. For me, at least. His opinions were clouded with past disagreements and hatred and I knew that it would take a long time for those to pass.

"James?"

He jumped slightly and turned to look at me, "Lily? What's up?" he put his magazine down and sat up to look at me properly.

"Well…" I hesitated, "I was thinking I would go and see…Snape."

James was silent. He just looked at me in a way that made me feel slightly uncomfortable. I could feel light heat rise into my cheeks, "I just think that I should go over and talk to him. He did make the effort to come and see me that night and I didn't really get the chance to talk to him properly, what with you attacking him and all that—"

"I didn't attack him!" James said indignantly, "I just…overreacted, that's all. I admit that it wasn't very rational of me but it was my first instinct. I mean, it's not like I had any warning that he was going to turn up and announce that he has been in love with you for forever."

"I know, James and I agree that it was a shock," I said, walking over to sit beside him and take his hand, "but that's why I think I should go and see him. I bet he's completely miserable here. He never really had any friends—"

"Yeah, I wonder why." James muttered, but I ignored him.

"—and I think that it would be nice of me to at least go and try to sort it all out. He was a good friend to me for a long time, James and I at least owe him that."

He sighed and looked away from me. I could practically see his brain working and I guessed that he was weighing up the pros and cons. He stood up suddenly and started pacing around the room. "I still don't know, Lils. I mean, he's in love with you! I don't exactly want to go, 'Sure honey, that's fine' and send my wife over to spend time alone with someone who was secretly pining over her for 30 years. Not to mention the fact that he hates my guts. I just—I don't know."

He stopped and looked at me, "It's not that I don't trust you, Lily, because I do. I just don't trust _him._"

"James, I appreciate your concern, but I'm going to be fine." I said softly as I stood too, "I'm only going over to talk to him. He knows I don't love him, I love you and I'm not going to let him take advantage of me or something."

He nodded slowly, then his head shot up, "I'm coming with you."

I stared. That was certainly not what I was expecting. I was expecting the unwillingness and the worrying, but I wasn't waiting for him to invite himself along. "Why do you want to come? I would have thought that you would want to stay as far away from him as possible."

"Well, I do kinda." He sighed, "But I want to be sure he doesn't try to put any moves on you or something." He laughed when I made a face at the thought, "And I guess it wouldn't hurt if I came and tried to get the straight story. Last time I was just so mad that I didn't really listen to anything good he had done. I should try and make a civil conversation at least."

I smiled, touched at how he was making an effort to speak to someone he tried to continuously curse all through school. "Okay, you can come. But try not to lose your cool this time, alright?"

I eyed him carefully and he laughed, grabbing my hand and pulling me out the door, "Lily, you make me laugh."

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I took a deep breath and raised my hand to knock. I looked at James just before my fist touched the dark wooden door. "Are you sure?"

He smiled, "Lils, I'm fine. Well, as fine as I can be when I am voluntarily visiting Snivellus. We are _not _telling Padfoot about this. He would think I've gone mad."

I laughed and knocked three times, "You're right. He would probably avoid us for days, thinking we had caught something bad. And please don't call Snape Snivellus, it's very rude."

"If you insist." He grinned.

I didn't even get the chance to roll my eyes at him because the door was opened and Snape's head stuck out to see who it was. His eyes widened when he saw me and he stared for a second before he seemed to realise that there was someone standing next to me. When he noticed James, his eyes narrowed and he instinctively shut the door slightly.

"Lily…Potter," he shot a glare at James who stared right on back, "What are you doing here?"

"We're playing knock and run and we forgot the running part." James snorted sarcastically before I could answer, "What do you think?"

"James!" I hissed and he looked slightly regretful.

Snape sneered, "I don't know, Potter, do enlighten me to the reason of your visit with your oh-so-amazingly witty and compelling humour."

He went to shut the door, but James stuck his foot between the door and the wall. "Okay, sorry. Old habits die hard."

"We came to see you." I jumped in before Snape could make another offensive comment. "We wanted to talk to you about…that night. I felt like I should make the effort to speak to you, since you made the effort to speak to me. I am sorry for the way we treated you—"

"I don't need your pity." He said to me, but he was glaring at James.

"I'm not here out of pity." I snapped, my stubbornness coming out, "I _wanted _to see you. And James wanted to at least make an effort to get the story since, well you remember last time."

He stared at us with no expression on his face at all for a minute, before silently holding the door wide open to let us both in.

His house was bigger then it looked from the outside and was a lot brighter then I had assumed. I only managed to see the front hallway which was lit with bright lights on the white walls, not a picture in sight (it was all rather blinding) and I only got a glimpse of a small, shiny white kitchen before James and I were being ushered into his living room.

He sat on one brown leather couch and James and I sat opposite him. There was an uncomfortable silence for a long moment before I timidly said, "I was just wondering, how much did we miss out on hearing that night? I just got the feeling that although you were there to say something else, there was something you were not telling us. That there was more to the story, I mean."

"Well, you didn't really seem like you wanted to hear it. Plus, I didn't really get the chance to say what I wanted to, what with your violent husband here—"

"Watch it, Snivellus." James said forcefully, "I am trying to make an effort to be civil to you, for Lily's sake, but if you're not going to reciprocate that, then I am fine with reverting back to the old ways. I might even call Sirius or Remus to come and help me. Does that sound like fun to you?" When Snape didn't answer, he continued, "Look, I am willing to put our past behind us for the moment so that I can hear what you have to say about my son. That's all I'm here for."

There was another moment of tense silence as Snape thought over his options. I knew that he was really tempted to just kick us both out, but I think I could tell we were sincere.

"Well, seeing as you made the effort to come here, I suppose I should tell you the basic story. I won't go into too much detail because it is a very long story, and some parts I'm not very proud of," he hung his head for a moment before looking back up at us, "But it was all for you, Lily. I knew it was my fault that Voldemort went after you and I never forgave myself for doing that. You were nothing but kind to me, even after you started dating him" he struggled to keep that hatred out of his voice, but I could see that he was at least making the effort, "and I…well I was in love with you and yet, I was the reason you were dead."

I couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable again with him admitting that his feelings for me had been far more then friendship after all this time. I never noticed and I felt kind of bad that I had been so ignorant, but I knew that I would have never felt the same things back to him, so it was a little bit of a moot point.

Although, if we had continued to be friends after 5th year—if he hadn't called me the name I hated so much in front of most of the grade—maybe, just maybe, I would have found it in my heart to feel that way too.

But it didn't happen that way, and to be honest I was glad. I discovered, after many long years of hatred, that I actually loved James and that we were so happy together. Then Harry came into the world and even though I left it soon after, he would forever be the most important thing in my life and I knew I had to get over my discomfort with this conversation for my son's sake.

"Severus?" he looked slightly startled at me using his first name, "Can you please tell us your story?"

**SNAPE**

"…even though I begged, Voldemort had no use for me anymore, so he set his giant snake Nagini on me." I was almost finished telling my story to Lily and Pot—James. _Ugh, it almost hurts to say the name. All those years of hatred can't really be ignored, even for only one night._

They had taken it all rather well, only asking a few questions now and then. I was rather nervous to tell them my story, especially Lily, because I didn't know how they would take it and what they would think of me afterward. Would I be seen as a pathetic loser, like I had forever been in Hogwarts, who did anything he could to not forget his love and to try to rid himself of guilt? Or would I be a brave man who risked his life for his love's son, even if it meant standing at Death's door for most of his adult life?

Somehow, I couldn't see James Potter thinking of me as a hero. That was always his area, but I hoped that they could appreciate what I did for Harry. Or what I tried to do. With him still alive, I have no way of contacting him or finding out what he thought of me from my memories. I don't even know if he managed to collect them properly. I think he did, seeing as The Dark Lord was vanquished.

"The snake bit me all over my face and neck, and it was an excruciating and torturous way to die, as I'm sure Voldemort intended. I collapsed and the snake disappeared but I knew that I had no chance in seeing another day, so I lay there quietly, waiting for my time to come.

"Suddenly, Harry was there, leaning over me. I don't know how he found me or how long he had been there but I decided then that I wanted him to know what I did for him. I wanted him to not think of me as his hated Potions teacher or the man who murdered Dumbledore—I wanted him to see me as someone who thought he was doing the right thing, but afraid of the consequences. So, with my last ounce of energy I released all my memories, letting them flood out of my mind. I could barely feel them come out of me and I could only assume Harry took them because then it went black, and I was up here."

There was stunned silence.

The Potters stared at me wordlessly. And I couldn't take it. I didn't want this to go on. It had been hard enough to sit on the opposite couch to the woman I love and her husband and tell them what I did for their son. I couldn't take sitting in the same room with her anymore without shouting my heart's desires to her.

I stood up and they did the same. In silence, I walked to the door and they followed me. I opened it, and they both stepped out to leave, hand in hand. They turned to face me and say some kind of thank you or farewell, though none of us knew how to phrase it.

Suddenly, Lily let go of her husband's hand and hugged me tightly. I was so shocked at first, all I could do was stand there. But then I managed to regain my senses and lightly wrap my arms around her, still very much aware of the fact that James was still standing there, but not glaring daggers at me, as was his habit. I had been over 20 years since I had any physical contact with Lily and it brought back a wave of emotions that threatened to crush me. I gently pushed her away to see her smiling tearfully at me.

"Thank you Severus." She whispered, "I know how hard that must have been for you to tell, but that only makes you braver. I admire you for your commitment to keeping my son safe and your courage. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

"I owed it to you to help him." I muttered.

She shook her head, "You didn't owe me anything. You were always my friend, even after we didn't spend time together anymore, and I never forgot how nice you were to me. I never blamed you for my death and I know James didn't either. You had no control over who Voldemort chose."

"She's right." James said, stepping forward, "We never blamed you. But now, after hearing all that, I must admit I will forever be in your debt for helping our boy. You were very…brave," he seemed to struggle putting the word and me together, "and I can't thank you enough."

He stuck his hand out for me to shake and I felt like I would fall over from shock. James Potter was thanking _me? _I never knew I would see the day. Pulling myself together, I briefly shook his hand before letting it go.

He dropped it just as fast and I could tell that although we had come to an agreement of sorts, there were too many years of rivalry and resentment to be cleared in a few hours.

Potter cleared his throat, "And I'm…sorry…for reacting the way I did when you first arrived. It was irrational and I should have listened to what you had to say first, so I'm sorry." He swallowed hard and I had the urge to smirk at him and rub it in his face that Perfect Potter was apologizing to me.

Luckily for him, Lily was there so I held off from the gloating. I just nodded and he understood that I knew what he was talking about.

Lily smiled at me and took James's hand, "Thank you, Sev." Then she turned away from me without looking back.

Little did they know that I carefully left out from my story the fact that the last thing I saw before the blackness over took me were green eyes, staring right into mine. I knew they were Harry's but they were also Lily's. Those beautiful eyes that had sparked a life of pain and rejection and continued to haunt me for 20 years. Staring at those eyes, I imagined it was Lily staring back at me, begging me not to leave her.

And, because I was looking into those emerald eyes, I died happy.

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**A/N: sorry it took so long for this chapter to go up! being the genius that i am, i put the first chapter up before i had exams so i couldn't write anymore for two weeks! but it's all over now so everyone can stop stressing! :)**

**hope everyone likes the calmer reunion between Snape and James and that they came to an agreement.**

**PS if anyone has a suggestion for what they want me to write, they are welcome to tell me. If you feel like i skipped over some kind of reunion or something i would like to see what you think. **

**Press the button below! DO IT!**


	3. Betrayal Part 1

"Prongs! Lilyflower!"

James sighed and looked at Lily. She smiled and shrugged at him, not bothering to give him a proper answer to his look, and turned back to her knitting. James almost laughed at the absolute absorption on her face. _She _wasn't really doing anything—just waving her wand every now and then so the needles would thread through the wool in the right places.

"Jamesie! Are you home?"

At this yell, Lily didn't even look away from her needles and thread even when James stared at her, waiting for an answer. Eventually he gave up, and rolling his eyes at his wife's concentration at something of so little importance in his opinion, James yelled back in the direction of the front door, "No! Go away, Padfoot!"

A few seconds later there were heavy foot falls that stopped at the doorway of the living room.

"That's not very nice, Prongs." Sirius said, coming into view and leaning against the door frame to look at his best friend. He stared, shocked at the sight in front of him. James was lying on the couch, his head in a book and Lily was now smiling up at Sirius, her knitting still going on its own.

"What is it, Sirius?" Lily asked at the sight of Sirius's face.

"Have I stumbled upon some alternate universe or something?" Sirius managed to get out.

"We're in heaven. There is no alternate universe to heaven, Siri."

"Oh, I know what it is." Sirius smiled and nodded, as if he had solved a huge life-changing mystery, "Have you two used that body switching spell again?"

Lily laughed and James snorted, finally dropping his book to look at his friend. "Again? When in Merlin's name did Lily and I switch bodies?"

Sirius gave a wistful smile, "That day in seventh year when Lily came to breakfast super early, all bright and happy and joking. And then you came in as late as possible, and you were all moody to everybody except to Moony and Wormtail and I."

Lily glared at him, "Are you saying I was always moody?"

"Hey, you said the words, not me." He held up his hands with a cheeky grin and Lily rolled her eyes and went back to her knitting.

James laughed loudly, "We didn't switch bodies, Padfoot. We were just in different moods to what we normally were in back then. That happened to be the day Lily put itching powder in my bed and smeared some sort of cream on my glasses so they were foggy and I couldn't get it all off for about two hours. Of course I was mad."

"Oh, that's right." Sirius chuckled, "That was quite a good prank, by the way, Lils. Subtle and simple, yet always effective."

"Yeah, because that's what all your pranks were," Lily said sarcastically, "The epitome of subtlety. And watching you pull all those outrageous stunts over the years did give me a few pointers of my own so you really only had yourself to blame." She smirked at James, who winked cockily.

"They were awesome pranks, weren't they? Always got people talking. Even Dumbledore thought they were funny." He smiled, staring off into the distance. Eventually he seemed to come back to earth and he frowned, "You know, I'm sure I had a point when a brought all this up. What started this whole reminiscing thing?"

"You thought Lil and I had switched bodies." James stated, looking back at his book.

"That's right! I walked in and Lily is doing…something, I don't even know what she is doing, and James is reading! _Reading!_"

"So?"

"So, my darling Lilyflower, it should be the other way around. You should have your bookworm nose in a book and James should be the one doing something completely pointless and boring. Not reading, of all things." Sirius shook his head in mock disappointment.

"Hey!" Lily cried indignantly, "Knitting isn't pointless! Granted, it may be a bit boring, but I like it. Do you want a new scarf for Christmas, Sirius?"

Sirius looked confused but shrugged, "Sure, you know I love scarves."

"Well, don't insult my knitting, because I am making you one right now but I won't give it to you if you think me making it is pointless."

Understanding lightened Sirius's expression and suddenly watched the needles clicking together in fascination. "You're making a scarf? Right now?"

Lily nodded and he clapped like a little kid, running over to her. "That's so cool! Teach me how to make one! Please!"

Lily laughed and James shook his head, looking up from his book to say, "Sirius, what did you come here for?"

"I was bored, and I wanted to see what you guys were doing." He shrugged, watching as Lily carefully used her wand to direct the needles as they took on another thread of a different colour, "Nikki's gone to meet her parents again and I've had enough painful conversations with her father, thank you very much."

"So you've decided to bestow upon us you're over-excited, ridiculous company?" said James with an ironic hint to his tone that Sirius, of course, didn't pick up at all.

"Sure have." Sirius grinned at him, "Aren't you so lucky?"

"Lucky my arse." James muttered to himself, turning the page and continuing to read his rather interesting book on vampires.

He zoned out the mutterings of Sirius as he tried to understand knitting and the sighs of Lily trying to teach him, absorbing himself in his book. A chapter later, James was almost finished the book. He looked up to check what time it was, thinking that he had better go and visit Moony to give his book back when he was done, but was greeted with an all too familiar face staring down at him with a sickly sweet smile from the television screen on the wall.

"AHHHH!" James yelled, jumping up from the couch in shock, dropping his book to the floor. He walked backwards quickly to go stand by the door, as far as possible from the TV screen and the person he wished never to see again.

Lily and Sirius jumped at his shout and turned to look at James as if he had gone mad.

"What is your problem, Prongs? Book to scary for you?" Sirius teased, in an even better mood then before, having gotten the hang of knitting.

James shook his head, still unable to speak and pointed with a shaky hand behind Sirius to the TV.

"MOTHER OF MERLIN!"

Sirius was so surprised he fell backwards to the floor, but hopped up quickly to stand next to James. Lily looked towards where they were staring and shrieked, grabbing a sofa cushion tightly as if it would protect her.

There was a long moment of tense silence before Peter Pettigrew whispered from the TV screen, "James…it's been so long."

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**A/N: So i know that wasn't the longest chapter in the world, but i just felt like it was a great place to end, don't you think? Don't be mad at the cliffhanger! It does continue, i promise! You will see what happens when Peter talks to James so keep looking out for an update! **

**REVIEWS = HAPPY GINNYJAFFA!**


	4. Betrayal Part 2

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER!**

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_There was a long moment of tense silence before Peter Pettigrew whispered from the TV screen, "James…it's been so long."_

Nobody answered Peter for a moment. They all just stared at him in shock and horror. James and Sirius just looked at the ex-best friend like he was some kind of monster they never wanted to see again. Which in their minds, he kind of was.

James cleared his throat. "What the hell are you doing on my TV, you filthy mongrel?"

"I-I wanted to see you. It's been years, James. So many years since I saw you and I need to talk to you, about everything. I know that it's been—"

But Peter was cut off by loud knocking from the front door. "Lily? Prongs? Are you home?" Remus's voice echoed down the hall and evidently Peter heard it as his eyes widened.

Hesitating, James and Sirius looked at each other. "He should be here, Prongs." Sirius said after a moment with a stony face.

James nodded and, after giving Peter a harsh look, he walked into the hall and opened the front door to reveal the final Marauder.

"What took you so long? I was beginning to think you weren't home." Remus smiled, but when James didn't return it, he knew something was immediately off. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Pettigrew's here."

Remus stared at him for a moment in shock, but then shook his head. "James, that's impossible. He's in Below, there is no way he could be _here._"

"He's not _here, _Moony but he can see our faces and talk to us. He wants to talk to us, or me specifically." James frowned but then looked up and Remus's white face and grabbed the arm of his coat, dragging him inside, "Come on, Padfoot and I need our Moony."

When the front door was shut behind them shouting was suddenly heard. They both knew immediately who it was and rushed into the living room to calm their best friend down.

Turning the corner, they found Sirius now standing on the coffee table so his face was directly in front of the television screen, shouting at Peter who looked rather frightened.

"…have no idea what it was like for any of us! You didn't care about anything other then your precious Voldemort and those other nutcases he called 'followers'! You were supposed to be our friend but then you end up killing James and Lily! How could you even do that to yourself let alone everyone else you shitty, mother fu—"

"Sirius!" James and Remus shouted over him, grabbing both his arms and pulling him off the table to stand at the back wall with them. Lily had gotten up from the couch when James came back in and quickly latched onto his arm, almost hiding behind him.

Wrapping his arm around his wife and rubbing her back comfortingly, James turned to Sirius, "Calm down, mate we have plenty of time to shout. Don't let him work you up. He's not worth it."

Taking a deep breath, Sirius nodded, then looked at Remus. "Moony! Nice timing you have there my friend. We need you, buddy. You and I have done this before."

Remus nodded, then coolly turned to face Peter. "Pettigrew." He said, no warmth in his voice at all. It almost had a business-like quality to it. "How are you here and why are you here? We were perfectly happy with you never showing your betraying face again."

"I need to speak to James!" Peter almost squeaked, "I wanted to apologize and explain myself—"

"Explain yourself?!" The shout of outrage had come from James this time, not Sirius, though he did look just as angry. "How could you even think to explain how you betrayed me to Voldemort. Why would you want to kill me, Peter! How could you do that to your school friends? To Lily? She was never anything but kind to you!"

Lily nodded timidly, not trusting her voice.

Peter winced visibly, "I didn't mean to!" he whined pathetically, "T-The Dark Lord asked me—no! He demanded me to get him the password! I couldn't say no! He would have killed me!"

"So what?" Sirius shouted, "So you die because you were a good friend. You die for a noble cause instead of being forever remembered as a two-faced bastard by the people you called friends! Really, it doesn't matter that you did what he said, you're dead to us now anyway!"

"Besides, he ended up killing you anyway." Remus growled, starting to get angry at Peter's whimpering, "He gave you that wonderful hand that ended up strangling you so it all is a moot point!"

"But-but, I couldn't help it! I wanted to live! I wanted you all to live! You were my friends!"

"Well, you screwed that up pretty well!" Sirius sneered, "The best act a friend can do: kill another friend, right under everyone's noses! Then, even better, you frame another friend for it! Ruin their lives so much that they wished they were the ones dead!" Stalking up to the screen, Sirius lowered his voice to almost a whisper. James and Remus didn't even attempt to stop him this time. "I was locked in that hell-hole for twelve years while you, the real killer, was scamming free food and shelter and a warm bed from an innocent, clueless family.

"You're a thief, right to the very core. You stole people's food, their comfort, their shelter, you ripped innocent people's lives away, and you tore their only son, the boy they loved more then anything in the world right out of their arms and put him straight into the hands of death. You didn't deserve to live for as long as you did."

Tears were now falling freely down his face as Peter continued to whimper and moan about how it wasn't his fault and he never meant to do it. He finally managed to get out a proper sentence. "I didn't want to kill James and Lily! He told me he was going to let them live! He only wanted the boy! He only wanted that stupid boy!"

James opened his mouth in anger to let Peter have it, but to everyone's surprise, Lily beat him to it. She stormed forward, her eyes flashing rage. "How dare you!" she shrieked, evidently having finally found her voice. "How can you say that about a boy that you never knew! He was a great boy, a great man! He loved his friends and family more then anything! And we love him, more then anything else in the world, but you ripped him right away from us! You're a heartless creature! You forced him into a life that he didn't deserve, that made everyday hard for him! He was constantly shadowed by pain and death everyday for _seventeen years_! You only had to hide away and pretend you did nothing wrong while he coped with the consequences of you're cruel, traitorous actions!"

She stopped, gasping for air and trying to burn him alive with her gaze. He shrank down, not able to look her in the eyes because it only reminded him of her son, of Harry looking back at him as he tried to stop Peter's own hand from killing its master.

Guilt constricted in him as he listened to Lily whisper, "We were never anything but nice to you. I always tried to be kind, open-minded. I never did anything to hurt you. The boys were always supportive, putting up with you, defending you when people called you names, including you like you were really one of them.

"And then you go behind all our back's and take away everyone's happiness in one single night. How long were you secretly following Voldemort, Peter? Since Hogwarts or were you still a newbie when you effectively killed your best friends?"

"I was tricked into it." He whispered, "They told me that it was the good side, that what The Dark Lord was doing was right, that it was going to save the world. I thought I was being noble, doing my duty."

"Well you weren't." Remus said bluntly, obviously taking his turn to speak. His voice was stronger, harsher then it usually was and it was evident to everyone that he needed to get it off his chest. "You do realise that you effectively killed all your friends when you told Voldemort the Password, don't you? You only technically killed two people, but Sirius and I were left to struggle with the aftermath of it all. You may not realise this, but Lily and James were our friends too. They were the only people who laughed at Sirius's lame jokes," Sirius pouted, but didn't interrupt, "They put up with him and his horrible mood swings. He was already heart-broken because of Nikki. How do you think he felt when the love of his life and his best friend were taken from him in the span of less then a year? Not to mention that because you framed him, he had over a decade to ponder the fact that he was believed to kill his best friend."

The question was obviously rhetorical so wisely, Peter didn't say anything but continue to whimper. Sirius looked down at the ground, his whole body tensing, obviously remembering the horrible pain he had felt, thinking his whole world was crashing around him.

"Then there was me. James, Lily and Sirius and, well I thought you, were the only people in the world who understood me, who supported me even though they knew what I was. They were everything to me, Peter and you took them all away from me in a single day. I thought you were actually dead, I thought Sirius had actually killed James and Lily and I thought I was alone for so long. Luckily, I only had about twelve years of emotional pain before I could think for myself again but after all that you caused, all those lives that you ruined, I know it will be very hard for me to ever forgive you."

He turned and walked out of the room, mumbling, "I'll see you later. Sorry," to Sirius and James and Lily as they stood in shock, watching him. Everyone heard the front door open and then slam.

There was a heavy silence as James stared at the floor, refusing to look Peter in the eye even when he whispered, "James?" It was only when he whimpered, "Prongs? Please?" That James's head snapped up and his eyes glared.

"Stop right there. You have no right calling me Prongs, you piece of shit. You lost all rights, um, I don't know…maybe when you betrayed me to Voldemort, who killed me and my wife and almost killed our dear son! You are not a Marauder anymore! You don't deserve that title or anything close to it! I…" he trailed off before putting his head in his hand, "If Harry had somehow lived a normal life, even without Lily and me, I might have found somewhere inside me that could forgive you, Pettigrew. But you put all that unnecessary weight on his shoulders that he had to bear for seventeen years and I really don't think I could ever forgive you for that."

Peter tried to speak but James held up a hand, "I know you are sorry, but honestly, I don't really care. You're nothing to me. Please don't bother us again."

Peter hesitated, then sighed and nodded. There was a moment of silence as he looked at James, Sirius and Lily then he said, "Good bye. I'm sorry." And the TV went blank.

There was a long, strenuous moment of silence before Lily moved over silently and wrapped her arms around James's waist. He pulled his arms around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head.

Sirius flopped onto the couch and let out a great gust of air. "Woah. Well, that was far too intense for my liking." He looked thoughtful for a second, before his face lit up. "Who wants to play Strip Poker?"

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**A/N: So...tell me what you think!! I LOVE to know! love? hate? More reviews means more writing! gj x**


	5. Let The Fun Begin!

**DISCLAIMER: No I don't own Harry Potter, and yes I wish I did.**

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**GINNY**

Loud laughter was heard even from where Harry and I stood across the street from Sirius and Nikki's house. It wasn't an unusual sound that was heard every Sunday when the Weasleys, the Potters and lots of friends got together for lunch. Harry and I had been in Above for almost thirty years now and we were both blissfully happy. Harry especially. He had his family back. Not just his parents, but also both sets of grandparents and any other loosely related family. I think that every now and again he still has to pinch himself because he finally has his parents back.

Harry and I were still completely happy together and still in love. The only things that I really missed while we were up here were our children, and their children. But I knew that it wouldn't be too long until they were up here to, and then my world would really be complete.

Still, every Sunday when we went to who ever had volunteered their home, we spent the day with our family and friends laughing and eating, and sharing stories that were hilarious or scary or embarrassing.

Harry chuckled quietly when he heard the laughter and we started across the road. "They've started without us, obviously."

"Harry," I sighed, "You should know by now that the party never really starts until I'm there."

He grinned and opened the door, not bothering to knock, and we were immediately greeted by the sight of Sirius running through the kitchen, being chased by a very angry-looking Nikki who was brandishing a wooden spoon. "Sirius doesn't seem to think so." Harry snicked as he towed me by the hand into the living room where every one else sat.

Before I could retort that Sirius knew the party didn't started until I walked in to my husband, I was passed around the room, being smothered in hugs and kisses and engaging in small talk with everyone in the room. Harry and I sat down next to Ron and Hermione on the couch. I turned to Lily, who was sitting in the armchair next to me with James leaning casually on the arm, one arm around her shoulders. "What did Sirius do to Nikki now?"

Lily giggled quietly and James laughed. "He tried to help her make the lunch." He said before Lily could speak. "And by try I mean cut up a carrot and then continue to stick his fingers in the sauce."

"Well then, she is completely allowed to chase him out of the kitchen. You never interrupt a woman when she is preparing to entertain unless you have a death wish." I grinned and Lily nodded.

"Oh, but dear Ginny," Fred smiled from one of the several table chairs that were scattered around the room to accommodate all the people, "We are in heaven, so death wishes don't really exist."

"They are more like…pain or torture wishes." George added.

I rolled my eyes just as Sirius walked in, rubbing his head and with traces of tomato sauce splattered across his face. He grinned hugely when he noticed Harry and I sitting on the couch. "Harry and Ginny are here!" he yelled as if no one else had noticed, "The party can really get started now. Little Red has finally graced us with her presence!"

I snorted at the nickname he had given me about ten years ago and refused to stop. Once he had made his way over to us, Sirius ruffled Harry's hair and gave me a one-armed hug.

"I was just saying to Jamesie here that we should do something after lunch. Get out into the fresh air. We always just sit inside and chat." He made a face, "It's so boring."

"You don't seem to think so when you are embarrassing the rest of us with your 'amazing' stories, Padfoot." Remus pointed out and Tonks nodded quickly from next to him.

"True," Sirius allowed, "But today I feel active. I have all this energy that I need to get rid of."

My brother Charlie laughed sarcastically from next to Bill and Fleur on the other sofa, "And you don't have that energy every other day?"

"Whatever." Was Sirius's genius retort. "I still think we should do something."

Nikki walked in then and announced that lunch was ready. "We'll see, Siri." Lily smiled gently, patting his arm on her way past. Sirius pouted for a moment as everyone retreated to the dining room, but we all knew that his spirits would be back up to their normal ridiculously high levels when his lunch was put in front of him.

Everyone was in stitches as Harry and I told the story of Ron's fling with Lavender in sixth year. The only people who weren't gasping for air were Ron and Hermione. They were struggling to not smile, even though Ron's ears were bright red and Hermione was blushing slightly. Having been married for so long, it didn't really bother them too much when we told stories of their past relationships or their daftness when it came to each other's feelings in school, but it still had been a hard time for them. Even if it was hilarious for the rest of us.

"And then," Harry was still saying, "Every time we played Quidditch—a match or just training—you would always here Lavender cheering for her Won-Won. It was so annoying, I could barely pay attention to anything anyone else was doing."

Everyone laughed again, except Sirius who suddenly jumped up from his seat with a loud yell. "THAT'S IT!"

Shocked silence fell as we all stared at his enormous grin and shining eyes. "What's it?" Tonks eventually said.

"We can play Quidditch!" Sirius cried triumphantly. "That's what we can do today! I haven't played it in years but I can sure as hell still whack a couple of Bludgers around. Ooh!" he clapped his hands quickly as a new idea came to him. "We can have the Weasley's," he pointed to my family and I, "playing…everyone else." He pointed to the rest of the table.

The idea of a Quidditch game was actually really appealing to me and I could feel the smile spreading across my face. Quidditch was one of the passions in my life and I had even made it my career, but I hadn't played in so long and I knew that I would love to get back out on a broom again. I looked at Harry and his eyes were shining. He loved the idea as much as I did.

As my eyes circled the rest of the table, it became apparent that Sirius's idea was actually a very good one, which was really quite rare. My brothers were all smiling, Remus was shaking his head, but smirking a little and James's grin was almost as big as Sirius's.

"I'm in." James said, jumping up as well and Sirius gave him a high-five.

"I knew you would be, Prongs."

"I'm in too." Harry stood and I kicked my chair back as well.

"Me too."

Everyone stood up, then and announced their enthusiasm. Before I knew it, we were all being herded outside by a very excited Sirius. We followed him down the street and it was then that I realised I had no idea where we were going. Evidently, neither did Ron. "Er, Sirius?" he yelled out so he could be heard, "Where are we going?"

"To the Quidditch pitches!" Sirius yelled back, "What? You didn't think we would play without a proper pitch, did you? It wouldn't be heaven without at least three!"

Everyone started murmuring amongst themselves then, marvelling over the fact that Above had several Quidditch pitches but no one knew it. Eventually, we made it to the pitches, only to find that there were five and not three.

Harry and James were particularly happy, and were both acting like little boys on Christmas Day, running around, trying to find a free pitch and rummaging through a broom closet to get out the balls and brooms.

Within a few minutes, everyone was standing in the middle of a huge Quidditch pitch, holding brooms (all very good ones, not like the old ones Hogwarts had) and with a large box that held all the balls at our feet. There were a few moments of silence before Bill said, "So…how are we doing teams?"

Everyone glanced at each other, then we all looked at Sirius. He made and exaggerated sigh. "Alright, let's narrow down our numbers. Who doesn't want to play?"

Hermione and Fleur raised their hands, which really wasn't a surprise. Lily also raised her hand but said, "If you need one more person I can play, I'm just not very good."

"It's true." James spoke up, "She isn't." He ducked her slap to his head with a grin, "What? You aren't. You can play, but you're not that great, and you're too stubborn to let me teach you."

She slapped him on the arm before he could dodge it but still laughed. Sirius grinned then turned back, "So, I thought we could have the Weasley's against the rest of us." He nodded to all the red-heads and Angelina who was standing with George. She did marry him so she was a Weasley.

"Hang on," I said, "I'm not really a Weasley anymore, so shouldn't I be on the other side?"

Sirius frowned, shaking his head, "If you are needed with us, then you can switch but stay there for a moment."

I sighed and moved over to where my brothers stood. They all patted me on the back and flicked my hair to welcome me to their side. Angelina, who was standing with George, gave me a warm smile and wrapped her arm around my shoulders. "I need another girl with me to avoid this lot." She indicated to her brothers-in-law.

Unfortunately, George heard her and jumped over to us, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Don't deny that you love us. You had to know what you were marrying into."

She shrieked and laughed, smacking him until he let her go. I laughed at them and glanced over at Harry who gave me a smile and I couldn't help but smile back, my heart warming a little.

"So, do you Weasley's reckon you can order yourselves for a few minutes into positions?" Sirius shouted to us. "Oh, and pick a team captain too."

We huddled up and discussed quietly. "I refuse to play anything other then Seeker," Charlie said, "You all know I suck at playing anything else."

"Agreed," Bill said, "Luckily you're the only one who can play Seeker anyway. Ron, you're Keeper, since no one else wants you're crappy job." He laughed when Ron stuck his tongue out at him maturely, "Fred and George, you're—"

"Beaters," They said immediately.

"No one else here can injure people like we can." Fred joked.

"Okay, so that leaves Ginny, Angelina and I for Chasers." Bill frowned, "I think that's it. It's a shame Mum and Dad aren't here today, they would love to see this."

"Yeah, but they had to visit Uncle Bilius," Charlie said, "You know how he feels all left out if he doesn't get a visit every once in a while."

"And Percy," Ron added, "Although I doubt he would regret missing this game."

"Plus, he almost seems to love old Bilius more then his dear brothers and sister," George said, putting a mocking hand to his heart, "Oh, how it pains me so."

I rolled my eyes at his antics and everyone else laughed. For a moment it was quiet, but then Bill said, "Does anyone want to volunteer for captain?"

"I nominate Ginny," Angelina piped in before anyone could speak, "She played for the country for years, don't forget and was a great captain to them."

"I agree, it needs to be Gin." Ron said, "She knows her stuff."

Everyone was nodding and I sighed, "Do I get a say in this? What if I don't want to be captain?"

"We know you want to, Gin." Charlie grinned, "Don't deny it. Come on, quit being a girl and let's show those other losers what the Weasley's can do."

"Let's do it!" I said, getting really excited for the match. I hadn't played in so long and I was really looking forward to having the wind in my hair and being back in the middle of the action.

We walked out into one straight line to face the others who were waiting for us with expectant looks on their faces. "Run us through you're team, Captain." Sirius said in an over-dramatic, booming voice.

I stepped forward with a grin, "I'm Chaser and Captain," I turned to my family and pointed each person out individually, "Angelina and Bill are the other Chasers. Ron is Keeper, Fred and George are Beaters and Charlie is Seeker."

Sirius grinned then said, "James, Lily and Tonks are Chasers, Remus is Keeper, Harry is Seeker and Nikki and I are Beaters." He puffed his chest out and said, "And I am Captain of Team Awesome."

Everyone on my side burst out laughing and all the others, except Sirius rolled their eyes. "Team Awesome, really Sirius?" I snorted, "What are you, ten?"

"Twelve, actually," He smirked, "Twelve and three months."

"Wait, Nikki's a Beater?" Charlie burst out incredulously before I could retort back to Sirius.

"Sure am." She said with a smug smile, swinging her bat at her hip, "Sirius and I were Beaters on the Gryffindor team for four years at school."

"And we were the best Hogwarts had seen for many years!" Her boyfriend boasted wrapping his arm around her shoulder, "We were unstoppable. No one even came close to our talent."

"Until George and I came along!" Fred said with a challenging grin.

Sirius shrugged with an air of arrogance, "Maybe, maybe not. We'll just have to find out in the air."

I gave a laugh before I could stop myself and Sirius raised an eyebrow at me. "Got a problem with that, Little Red?"

"Not at all," I said, "Let's play."

We were all hovering in a circle, ready to grab the Quaffle as it is thrown up. Fleur was standing at the centre, holding the ball like it was an exploding bomb. She blew the whistle, threw it into the air, then immediately ducked, raising her arms over her head to shield herself.

I laughed and raced to the ball, grabbing it before anyone else could. Fred and George's old friend Lee who was called in to commentate this special game was in the stands with his beloved microphone. "And Ginny's got first possession of the Quaffle and goes racing off downfield. She throws it to Angelina who then passes it to Bill. He goes speeding towards the goal and goes for the shot. Aw man! Remus blocks it well, sending it back into James's hands. Did you play for school, Rem?"

Remus gave an elated laugh from the goalposts and shook his head causing Lee to laugh too, "Well you should have. Anyway, back to the game. James is flying down the pitch, woah! Nice duck, Potter! Fred just smashed a Bludger to him but he dodged it like the true flyer he is. He passes to Lily but, oh no! She's dropped it straight into Bill's hands. Too bad, Lil."

Bill threw the Quaffle straight to me as Lee continued to talk with his usual enthusiasm. I snatched it from the air and flew straight back towards Remus who looked slightly nervous. I gave him a grin and aimed to shoot. Just then, I heard Harry's familiar yell, "Ginny! Watch out!"

I turned quickly to see a Bludger coming right at my outstretched arm. I quickly pulled it back in and ducked down. The Bludger soared over my head and I sighed with relief when Nikki flew over to it and smashed it away. I spun back to where it came from to see Sirius floating on the other side of the pitch glaring at Harry.

"What did you do that for? You don't warn a person on the other team about stuff like that! I almost had her!" He shouted.

Harry shrugged sheepishly, "Sorry, Sirius. She's my wife, I can't help it. Old habits die hard." Sirius shook his head with a sigh and Harry grinned and winked at me when Sirius wasn't looking. I mouthed a 'thank you' and threw the Quaffle to Angelina. Lee's voice rang out again, "So after Harry saves his wife from the power of Black's Bludger, Gin throws the Quaffle to Angie who shoots beautifully into the far hoop. Oh! Nice try Remus. That's ten points to the Weasleys!" Hermione, who was sitting next to Lee in the stands, flicked the switch and ten points came up on the board.

Tonks nicked the ball from the air and sped downfield. She ducked double Bludgers shot at her from Fred and George and passed it to James. I had to admire James's flying. Harry really did take after him in Quidditch. He had exactly the same way of sitting on the broom as his father. It was a shame they didn't play the same position. I couldn't wait for Harry to show James how well he could fly, but the Snitch hadn't been seen yet so he hadn't gotten the chance. I wanted him to blow his parents away.

"James is nearing the goals…he shoots! Oh but a nice save by Ron. I do remember when Ronny first tried out for the Gryffindor team, he couldn't save a thing! Ooh, that reminds me of a song, 'Weasley is our king!'" Ron shot an annoyed glance at him as his ears turned slightly red. "No offence, mate." Lee grinned, "You are a great keeper now."

"Get back to the game, Lee!" Charlie yelled from his position in the air.

"Will do," Lee laughed, "So after that failed attempt at goal, Bill has the Quaffle again. He's heading towards the goals, but wait! Look at that teamwork from Sirius and Nikki!" I chanced a look at the two of them and was rather impressed. Sirius smacked the Bludger to Nikki, who aimed for Bill who ducked, but then Sirius was on his other side, hitting the Bludger back to Nikki who got another shot and smacked the Bludger straight into the very front of Bill's broom, sending him rocking, unstable. He dropped the Quaffle so he could grab his broom. It fell straight into Lily's hands. She managed to keep hold of it this time, but quickly passed it off to Tonks with a scared look on her face.

"That was great work by Sirius and Nikki! Very impressive zig-zag work there guys. Bill had no idea what was coming!" Lee said into the megaphone. Sirius and Nikki grinned, then high-fived each other when James made a great shot straight through the middle of the high hoop.

"That play look familiar, Prongs?" Sirius yelled to James when he flew back over to him.

"Of course, Padfoot!" He shouted back, "I came up with it!"

Sirius gave a mocking gasp, "No you didn't! Well, you helped." He reluctantly admitted.

The game was back on with the teams even. It continued like that for three hours. One team scored, then so did the other. I hated to admit it, but we were really even teams. Lily was probably the least experienced player, but she had James and Tonks to cover her and Sirius and Nikki to defend her.

Those two and Fred and George were having a great time trying to out-smash each other and prove that they were the better Beaters. It was amusing to watch their competition. I had never seen any of them so focused. Especially Fred and George; I didn't think they had concentrated this hard…well, ever.

"Oh! Ange dodges a really well shot Bludger from Nikki and streaks to the goals." Lee was still commentating with his loud voice, not even showing any signs of being tired. "You know I always did have the hots for her, especially in school. She was really something—"

"Watch it, Jordon!" George yelled, "That's my wife you're talking about!"

Lee laughed, "Sorry, George. I thought you knew. Anyway, Ange is going for her shot…and she scores! So close, Lupin, so close."

Remus smacked his hand to his forehead as he watched James snatch the Quaffle and take it down field. "Don't worry about it, Moony!" he shouted over his shoulder, "We still love you!" Remus laughed and rolled his eyes.

"James has the Quaffle, he ducks a Bludger from Fred. Nice work James. That would have hurt if it had got you. He passes it to—no! Wait a minute, ladies and gentlemen. I think the Snitch has been spotted!"

Sure enough, I looked up to see Charlie speeding to the ground, Harry right on his tail. I held my breath as Charlie reached out, but his had grabbed air as Harry bumped his broom when he flew up from underneath him.

I grinned as a heard James's exclamation and Sirius's yell of triumph, but it wasn't over yet. Neither Harry nor Charlie had gotten the Snitch and it streaked upward. They both shot after it, bumping against each other in the race to get to it first. Harry was winning, and he stretched out his hand, just like Charlie had done before him. Charlie tried to push Harry away, but Harry knew what he was doing and swerved out of the way, making Charlie miss him entirely and go soaring in the wrong direction. He swore loudly and I had to swallow my laugh at his face. I _was_ on his team after all.

Harry was still dipping and turning, following the Snitch every direction and managing to avoid the Bludgers Fred and George sent his way. His hand had almost closed around the tiny gold ball when I looked up and gasped, loud enough that everyone heard me.

Harry glanced at me for only a second, but that was long enough. The Snitch disappeared as I shouted, "Teddy's here!"

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**A/N: Sorry for the cliffie! I had to do it. Don't be too mad at me! I have to thank _orlibluver _for giving me the original idea for the Quidditch match--it was lots of fun to write. And also a thank you must go to my half-beta, half-HP consultant _CoffeyKrum _for helping me with the writing. I will put up the second half soon! REVIEWS = LOVE!**


	6. New Acquaintances

**So here it is: the second half of the story.**

**You know the deal. I don't own Harry Potter.**

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_Harry was still dipping and turning, following the Snitch every direction and managing to avoid the Bludgers Fred and George sent his way. His hand had almost closed around the tiny gold ball when I looked up and gasped, loud enough that everyone heard me. _

_Harry glanced at me for only a second, but that was long enough. The Snitch disappeared as I shouted, "Teddy's here!"_

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Everyone was on the ground in an instant, surrounding me.

"Did you just say what I thought you said?" Ron came up behind me, putting his hand on my shoulder.

I nodded, turning to look at Tonks and Remus who were now standing hand-in-hand. Tonks looked like she was going to cry and Remus was pale. "Teddy's just arrived." I whispered.

They both turned and shot towards the Diamond Gates faster then I had ever seen them move. We all hurried to follow them. It wasn't far to the hill from the quidditch pitch—close enough that I could see Teddy's face clearly from my position in the air.

Sirius, being as fast as he was, rushed past us all as we were running and grabbed Tonks and Remus by the back of their clothes. "Hey!" Tonks shouted.

"Padfoot, get the bloody hell off me!" Remus cried, clearly very agitated.

Sirius dodged the slap he was going to get from Tonks as he said, "Sorry, guys but it's the same with everyone. Parents are the last to meet the kids. I did it for Prongs and Lilyflower if you don't remember."

"You are so annoying." Tonks grumbled as she and Remus gave up fighting and let Sirius hide them behind the rest of us as we came closer. They knew it was a lost cause. Sirius had a plan. And when Sirius has a plan, everyone knew he stopped at nothing, and I mean _nothing _to get it done.

He shrugged, "I know."

After knowing that the two of them weren't going to move from their hiding spots, Sirius turned and pushed to the front of our group to stand in front of the man at the top of the hill.

Teddy looked up curiously when he heard all of us running up the hill, and his face turned confused when he didn't recognise Sirius.

"You must be Teddy." Sirius said in his 'dramatic' voice, walking forward more to shake Teddy's hand. "Sirius Black is the name and I have heard so much about you."

Teddy smiled, and I knew that he was happy to be meeting the infamous Sirius Black. His hair which had started out as a dull brown lightened slightly. "Nice to meet you, I have also heard a lot about you."

Sirius raised an eyebrow, "Now that is interesting. I'm not really surprised, but my I ask who told you about me?"

"Harry and Ginny did." Teddy grinned, but it seemed to falter after a second, "Are they here?" he whispered and I wanted nothing more then to run forward and hug the man who had become like a son to me over the years we were alive. He was Harry's godson and we had always had him at our house whenever he needed it. He was family.

Sirius smiled, seeming to detect his sad tone, "They sure are, my boy. You know, Harry is my godson."

"Yes, I know that." Teddy answered with a look which clearly showed that he was unsure where Sirius was going with this.

"And you are his godson."

"Yes…"

Sirius grinned hugely, "So that basically makes you my great-godson!"

Teddy laughed, slightly startled. I smiled at his surprise. This was Sirius, he better get used to it. "I guess so."

"Well, then welcome to the family. I am your father's best friend—"

"Apart from me!" James yelled from the front of our group and Sirius shot him a look.

"—yes apart from Prongs, so really you are family."

Teddy cleared his throat and smiled, "Thank you, Sirius. That means a lot." Then his eyes darted over the group in front of him and I knew he was looking for his parents, but not knowing who to look for having never seen them.

Sirius seemed to realise as well. He patted Teddy's back, saying "All in good time, great-godson. You will see them soon. But first, you have to meet my girlfriend."

He grabbed Nikki by the hand and she smiled at Teddy, "It's great to finally meet you," she said, "I'm Nikki, the smart half of this oaf," She pointed to Sirius who pouted.

"It's great to meet you too." He said and I could really tell he meant it. He had only been here for a few minutes, yet he was meeting more family then he had his entire life and, just like Harry, it would only get better.

Lily and James walked up and Lily, being the mother hen she is, gave a slightly shocked Teddy a hug. "Teddy, it's wonderful to finally meet you! I'm Lily Potter."

"And I'm James Potter," James said, shaking Teddy's hand, "We have been just dying to meet you. Harry is always talking about you, not to mention Tonks and Moony."

Teddy grinned, "It's great to meet you two. Harry looks so much like you, it's amazing."

James grinned cockily, "Well, I do take pride in passing down my stunning good looks." Teddy laughed and James continued, "But we're not going to waste any more of your time, you have more important people to meet."

"And we know exactly what you're parents are going through right now, having gone through the exact thing with Harry, so we won't be too mean on them." Lily threw a glance back at the hidden Remus and Tonks, "We have heaps of time to get to know you better."

Teddy looked nervous at the thought of meeting his parents, but his eyes were shining and I knew he really couldn't wait. He grinned, his hair turning blonde when Bill and Fleur walked up to him.

Fleur hugged him tightly and Bill gave him a huge smile and a pat on the back. "It's great to see you again, Teddy. How are you?"

"Er, a little overwhelmed to tell you the truth," he laughed, "But other then that, I'm really good."

"It well get eazier," Fleur assured him, patting his cheek.

Bill nodded, then said, "And how's our little girl?"

Swallowing, Teddy looked down then back up at his in-laws. "She's really good last time I saw. She's healthy and happy…well, healthy."

"Don't worry, Ted, it will get easier." George said, coming up to shake his hand and Angelina gave him a hug.

Teddy nodded, his eyes watering a little as he was passed through all the Weasleys. When he got to Ron and Hermione, he grinned. Being a part of Harry and my family, they were his family too and he loved his almost-aunt and uncle.

"Teddy!" Hermione cried, launching herself at him and hugging him tightly.

He hugged her back, his eyes teary. "Hi Hermione. It's great to see you again."

"You too, Teddy, I'm so glad to see you." She pulled back, a single tear falling down her cheek.

Ron came up and pulled Teddy into a hug as well, patting him on the back. "Hey Ted." He said, his voice a bit gruffer then normal, "it's been a while."

"It has, Ron." Teddy smiled, "You look happy."

"I'm very happy, mate. It's great here as you will soon learn."

"I'm sure I will." Teddy smiled.

Hermione took Ron's hand and beamed at Teddy. "How is our gorgeous family going?"

Teddy smiled proudly, "They're all really well. Rose and Hugo miss you hugely as do their kids but other then that they're really happy. But, I should probably tell you," he lowered his voice slightly, "Rose is a bit sick. She's got some kind of infection and she is getting treatment but she doesn't want to be put in St. Mungo's. You know how stubborn she can be."

Ron and Hermione smiled slightly though they did look a little worried. "She takes after her father in that aspect." Hermione muttered, glaring at Ron who gave her a 'what did I do?' look. "I just hope she isn't in too much pain." She sighed.

"I don't think so." Teddy assured her gently, "She does take most of her medication so it shouldn't be too hard on her. I just thought that you should know."

"Thanks Teddy." Ron said, patting his arm, "We do appreciate you letting us know. We don't get too much new information around here if you haven't figured out yet."

Teddy laughed in agreement. Hearing him laugh with his family made my patience snap and I stepped out from behind Ron to smile at Teddy through teary eyes.

He immediately stopped laughing but he did smile at me. "Ginny."

I threw myself into his arms, squeezing the life out of him probably but he didn't seem to mind. "Teddy!" I managed to choke out through my tears that were now pouring down my face, I noted that his hair was now a brilliant white blonde. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, Gin, I really did." Teddy murmured and I heard him take a shaky breath to calm himself. I pulled my head back to look at him slightly and I could see tear-tracks still shining on his cheeks. He blinked a few more strays fell as he said, "I felt kind of lost after you and Harry died. It was on the same day and it was so sudden. I was kind of lost without you, you were both so important in my life. You were like the parents I never had and never got to thank you properly for all that you did for me. So thank you, from the bottom of my heart. And I love you, so much."

I burst into tears again and grabbed him tight. At the same moment I felt Harry's hand on my shoulder and he said in a slightly shaky voice, "We love you too, Ted. So much, you can barely imagine it. Like you were our own son."

I let Teddy go so he could hug his godfather, who was really more of a father to him then anything else. Harry was crying and Teddy was crying and I had to bite my lip to stop myself from blubbering even more.

They murmured to each other quietly and I let them have their moment, letting them reunite once again. They had always been extremely close, mostly because they came from almost exactly the same circumstances; having both lost their parents because they were brave and selfless, giving themselves up to defend the people they loved and what they thought was right. Both of them had been left to fend for themselves, but Teddy was lucky. He already had family and friends who were willing to look after him and give him as much information as he wanted about his parents and their lives.

My train of thought was cut off when I felt someone walk up and stand beside me, putting their hand gently on my shoulder. I looked up to see James smiling at Harry and Teddy. He glanced down at me and said, "He is really more like a son to you two then a godson, isn't he?"

I nodded with a smile, "He always has been. He even lived at our place for a while. He and Harry have always been so close, almost like brothers really. Harry knew exactly what he needed and how to make him feel happy and loved, you know? Because he had gone through exactly the same thing when he was younger."

"I guess so." James admitted but he frowned, "I will always feel so bad that Lily and I died for Harry and left him without any caring family or friends. What with Pettigrew and Sirius in Azkaban and Remus just disappearing off the face of the earth, he really had it hard, didn't he?"

Almost hesitantly, I nodded but then hurried to say, "It was better after he came to Hogwarts though, because he made real friends and he was over at our house all the time. He was lucky that my parents loved him so much and let him stay so often. He basically had another family to go to. My parents doted on him as much as they could because you weren't there to do it yourselves."

Still frowning slightly, James said, "And Teddy had the same thing with you two. Although his parents are actually here and I think they may be dying slowly back there. I reckon we should put them out of their misery, don't you?"

"Definitely."

With a quick grin at me, James ducked behind our little group and grabbed Remus and Tonks before almost yelling over to Teddy who was still talking quietly with Harry.

"Okay, time for the big finale! Teddy are you ready?"

Teddy looked over Harry's shoulder and gulped, looking slightly nervous but also very happy. Harry put and arm around his godson's shoulder reassuringly, having been through the same thing.

"Moony, Dora…meet your son, Te—"

But before James could get the entire sentence out, Tonks had flung herself at her son, sobbing. Teddy's hair turned a bright, pink to match his mothers and I almost laughed, but I knew that it meant more symbolically then anyone let on. After a moment, his hair changed again and turned a happy yellow-blonde and Tonks looked up at it and laughed through her sobs, her hair turning the exact same shade.

They beamed at each other before Tonks buried her face in his shoulder again and murmured, "Teddy! I have my little boy back! I finally can see my son! Oh, I love you, baby, so much. I'm so sorry I wasn't around to tell you that everyday."

Teddy let out a sort of strangled cry and held her tighter, "I love you too…Mum. Don't be sorry about not being around, I know you and Dad died making the world a better place for me and everyone else and you left me with such a great family that I was never very sad anyway. But I did miss you, everyday."

"We missed you too, honey. You have no idea. It was so hard not knowing everything about you, watching you grow up. Being able to care for you like we should have…"

"It was torture." Remus agreed, tears in his eyes now but a blinding smile on his face. Teddy looked up at him and his smile morphed to match it perfectly. I marvelled briefly at how father and son had exactly the same smile. "But know we don't have to wait any longer and nothing else matters." Remus continued before pulling his son in for a well-waited for hug.

A single tear slipped down my cheek before I could stop it as I watched the emotional reunion in front of me. I felt rather then saw Harry walk over to me and slip his arms around my waist, my back against his chest. "Why are you crying?" he murmured, "You've had your reunion."

"I know." I answered, leaning into him, "I'm just so happy that Remus and Tonks finally have their son back, and that Teddy has his parents. They're so happy, it makes me happy."

"He definitely is happy." Harry agreed, "And he's probably so overwhelmed."

I laughed, "Well, yes. Isn't everyone, though, when they first arrive here? I know I was."

"Me too. I remember it took me a couple of days to actually process that I had my parents back in my life. But now I'm happier then I ever have been before."

I looked up to smile at him and watch his green eyes shine at me before turning back to look at the small family in front of me.

Who would have thought that even when you are technically dead, you could find so much happiness?

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**SO? Is that up to everyone's standards? I would love to hear what you think! Good and bad. I'm a big girl, I can take it. Press the button! gj x**


	7. Surprised

**I KNOW! its been forever! please don't hate me! just read the chapter and i will explain at the bottom.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own HP, blah blah blah**

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**JAMES POV**

It was an ordinary day in the Potter household. Lily and I were sitting at the kitchen table, discussing our activities for the week ahead. Well, I was sitting at the table, Lily was going up and down, apparently too uptight and agitated to sit still for one moment. I watched in amusement as she got up again to see to the shrieking kettle that announced her third cup of tea.

"Would you mind making me one, love?" I threw in, just to mix up her routine. She gave me a dirty look in annoyance for making a change. "Why are you agitated anyway, Lil? We go to my Mum and Dad's place every second weekend. So they have a few guests, so what?"

"So _what_?" Lily repeated as I heard her tinkering away at the bench, "James, they have invited the Minister for Magic! Well, not _the _Minister for Magic, but the man who was the Minister for Magic when we were alive! I've always wanted to meet him, he was really an impressive man."

"Don't you think it's a bit ironic that the whole time we were at school, you always wanted a chance to meet him and now that we are dead, and have been for over 20 years, you finally get to meet him?" I mused.

I grinned at her irritated expression as she sat down, handing me the tea that I didn't really want. "Hilarious, James. That's not the point, though. I just want to know what it was like to be in charge of everything at the time of the war. The _first _war," she amended, "I wonder how stressed he was, really."

She blew on her steaming tea, took a tentative sip then suddenly started to gulp it down at an alarming rate. I watched in strange fascination as she grimaced slightly as it was clearly burning her tongue, but continued to pour it down her throat. "Lily, stop." I finally said, placing my hand over her one holding the cup and pulling it away from her gently. "You don't want burn blisters all over the inside of your mouth tomorrow, trust me, it's not fun."

My face at the memory must have caught her attention as she eyed me speculatively. "When in Merlin's name did you experience a mouth full of blisters, James?"

I shifted in my seat uncomfortably under her slight glare, "Er, do you remember that time in sixth year when we were in Transfiguration and McGonagall asked me what the spell was to transfigure clocks into animals and I couldn't speak?"

She thought for a moment before nodding slowly and I sighed, "The night before, Sirius dragged me to Hogsmeade and made me scull an entire bottle of searing hot Firewhiskey. The pain the next day," I shuddered, "unbearable."

Lily surprised me by laughing, "Sometime's I'm shocked that you boys are still able to walk, let alone talk. The things you did." She shook her head in astonishment.

"I'm going to take that as a compliment," I grinned, "At least you can't say I didn't live a full life. I destroyed a toilet, fell in love, made a map to Hogwarts, tortured Slytherins, became animagus, chased my best friend who happened to be a werewolf around once a month, burnt my mouth from a particular Firewhiskey, witnessed my best friend parade around the common room completely naked whilst entirely drunk, became Head Boy, got girl of my dreams to fall in love with me in return, got married, had a kid, and died defending my wife and child all before the age of twenty-two." I gasped for air, having listed all those accomplishments in one breath, then smiled winningly at my very surprised looking wife, "I'd say that was pretty good life."

She continued to gape at me for a moment before recovering. "You count watching Sirius dance around the common room completely naked that time an important part of your life?"

I shrugged, "Sure. It taught me many things." She gave me a skeptical look so I listed them off my fingers, "I learnt not to drink as much as he did in one go, not to ever dare myself to strip to my boxers, and that crazy seventh year Hufflepuffs are willing to really take advantage of drunk Marauders in their boxers."

Lily rolled her eyes. "That is the stupidest list you have ever made, James. Some of those things have no importance whatsoever and you—"

As she was speaking, I heard a strange sort of rustling noise coming from the kitchen that reminded me vaguely of something I had heard before. "Shh!" I interrupted, putting my finger to her lips.

"What is it?" she murmured, her words muffled against my finger.

The rustling grew louder for a moment and I could tell by the questioning expression on her face that Lily could hear it to. Then, a voice that we had only heard once before but should have been hearing all our life echoed around our kitchen. "Mum? Dad?"

Lily's eyes lit up and she grabbed my hand, dragging me into the kitchen quickly so we could both bend over the little, plain black speaker that was sitting on the end of the kitchen bench in delight.

There were quiet murmurings that we couldn't quite make out for a moment, but then Harry spoke again. "Well, this is a little weird because I don't know if you can hear me, wherever you are, but I hope you can."

"We can." Lily and I said at the same time. Lily already had tears in her eyes and I was feeling rather emotional myself. It had been over six years since we heard Harry and Hermione at our graves the year Harry defeated Voldemort and I had almost forgotten the joy I felt when he spoke to us, even if he didn't know it.

"I know it's been a while." Harry said and I could hear the smile in his voice, "I would say I have been busy but compared to what life was like when I was last here, life is really rather boring."

Lily and I grinned as we heard a muffled slap and then Harry said, obviously to someone beside him, "Ow. I didn't say it was _bad._ I just said that it was _boring _compared to when Voldemort was continuously trying to kill me. Alright, maybe boring isn't the right word. Normal is probably better."

Another male voice laughed, "Aw, don't be too hard on the man. You're just cranky because you're tired. Harry has never been happier with his life, you know that."

"Thanks Ron." Harry said.

"My stupid brother's right. Sorry Harry." A girl's voice muttered.

"It's okay, babe, I know you didn't mean it." Harry murmured. Lily squeezed my hand tightly and I looked at her to see a huge smile on her face as two twin tears rolled down her cheeks. She looked positively overjoyed that Harry had someone he obviously really cared about, judging from the affection I could hear just in his voice.

Another voice came through the speakers, but this one I could remember, "Um, hi Mr and Mrs Potter. I'm Hermione. I was with Harry last time he came here. I agree with him that it's been a long time, but we've brought a couple of other people here this time because we thought they should be here."

"I'm Ron." The other male voice said, "I've been Harry's best friend for, how long is it now, mate? Twelve years or something. Anyway, a long time. Hermione was our best friend too, but now she's only Harry's friend—hey! Let me finish! You're still my best friend too, Mione, but I was _going_ to say that you're my wife first and my friend second."

Lily and I laughed as we heard Hermione mutter a sorry to her husband and I was quite pleased that it seemed that Ron and Hermione had gotten their act together eventually. Harry seemed to be following my same train of thought because he said, "Yeah, they realised how they felt in the middle of the Battle at Hogwarts before Voldemort fell. They're now newlyweds and I've never seen them so disgustingly happy."

"Hey! You and Ginny are exactly the same so don't you go throwing stones, Harry." Hermione accused.

Lily gasped and I could see her really struggling to hold in her excitement at the announcement that the girl Harry was with was Ginny. I laughed lightly at her and let go of her hand to wrap my arm around her in an effort to keep her from jumping all over the walls.

"Yes, but we've been married longer and are over the whole 'honeymoon' stage." The girl we now knew as Ginny said smugly. "Plus, we figured out our feelings way before you two dimwits noticed what had been staring you in the face for six years. Clearly we are the smarter pair compared to you."

Ron snorted, "Right, the smarter pair. And Hermione's not the Minister for Magic."

"Ron! I'm _not _the Minister for Magic!"

"Hermione, the whole Wizarding World knows that you're going to be appointed any day now that Kingsley's stepped down." Harry sighed, exasperated.

"I don't think so…"

"Oh, give it up Hermione! Just be excited and honoured to be given the position and be done with it! You deserve it more then any of those other buffoons." Ginny snapped, "We all know it and—"

She was cut off by a high pitched wail that was eerily familiar to me. It sounded almost exactly the same as the sound I had often gotten up to in the middle of the night when I was alive. The crying dissolved into a small gurgle as Ginny started murmuring gently. I stared at the speaker in shock. I couldn't see them standing there, but I could picture it perfectly. Ginny standing there, rocking a little bundle of blankets in her arms, her red hair falling over her shoulders…

Lily clutched at my arm tightly, and I looked down at her to see tears now streaming down her cheeks but there was a huge grin on her face.

"Er, there is someone else here too, Mum and Dad." Harry said. "Ginny and I got married almost two years ago now and a month ago we had a baby. A baby boy. His name is James, after you, Dad."

It took me a moment to absorb what Harry had just said and when it did eventually sink in, I couldn't really believe it. My son named his first born child after me, the father he never knew. I felt like I didn't deserve it.

"I know I didn't really know you or Mum, but I wouldn't be here if you hadn't died for me. I owe you both for more then I could ever say." Harry continued.

My throat closed up and the hot tears spilled out of my eyes before I could stop them. I was so touched that Harry had even thought of me, let alone named his son after me.

"If we ever have a girl, we will call her Lily. We've already decided. I agree with Harry that you both deserve it very much. Not only did you protect your son from death but if you hadn't died for him, we would still be in war with Voldemort. Your sacrifice saved our world, and everyone, not only us, is eternally grateful."

Her compliments were almost too much. I hadn't thought of it that way and I knew that Lily and I had missed out on so much in Harry's life, but if we weren't here, I knew now the world would've been a very different place. I felt Lily hug me tightly and I held her back, knowing that we were thinking the same thing.

"That's really all we came here to say." Harry said, "We will definitely come back sooner, six years is too long." I felt Lily nod her head against my chest and I smiled as Harry continued, "I still don't know if you can even here this but it oddly makes me feel closer to you, so I will come back, I promise."

Everyone softly said their goodbyes and Lily and I stood in the kitchen, listening to their footsteps fading away. For a long moment we just stood there, holding each other, letting the emotions settle. After a few minutes, Lily pulled away to smile up at me and I saw with relief that her eyes were finally dry, but they still shone with more happiness then I had seen in a long time.

"Oh, James, that was the best news I have heard since the fall of Voldemort! Harry is all grown up!"

"I know." I said, walking over to the couch to fall into it heavily. "Married, with a son and everything."

Lily sank down next to me, "Not only married but to the girl he's always loved. His best friend's sister!" She gasped, "Now he is really part of the Weasley family. He actually has a family now, James!"

"Lil, he's always had a family." I brushed her hair out of her face, "Now he's just legally part of their family. Actually, Ginny is part of the Potter family now."

"Ginny Potter." Lily sighed, "I like it. And their baby! It must be the cutest little boy. I'm so happy for them. Can you believe he's named after you? It's so sweet."

I ran my hand through my hair, "I can't believe it, honestly. I'm so honoured that they even thought of it for a second. Hopefully they have a little girl so you can have a grandchild named after you too." I teased.

Lily's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open, "We're grandparents. Oh Merlin! Grand parents! I feel so old!"

I laughed, "You say it like it's a bad thing. Think about it, Lilyflower. If we were still alive, we would be almost fifty. That's old enough to have a grandchild."

"I guess, it just seems so odd seeing as we still look twenty." She shook her head, "I'm just so shocked by everything. I don't think my emotions have the capacity to be surprised about anything else today."

Just then, as if he had heard her words, Sirius burst through the front door looking haggard and shocked, and collapsed on the couch opposite us.

"What's wrong, Padfoot?" I asked.

Sirius just looked at us for a moment, his grey eyes dancing from me to Lily and back again, before he said, "I just bumped into my little brother Regulus. Thought he would be in Below, but he's here. Turns out he's actually a good guy and he sacrificed himself to get one of Voldemort's horcruxes. He helped Harry defeat Voldemort." He looked back down, as if all the things he thought about the world had been wrong. In one sense, it was true.

Lily and I gaped at him for a second. Then Lily said, "I was wrong."

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**A/N: (if you aren't mad at me for the terrible updating, feel free to skip this babble) **

**OK so i hoped you all like that chapter, and i hope it makes up for my horrible updating! School is just getting a bit out of hand, plus, i didn't really feel any inspiration for any more chapters but when i thought of this one, i wrote it all down straight away! **

**I know there isn't much with the whole Sirius-Regulus thing, but if i dedicated an entire chapter to that, it would not be very long and rather boring because Regulus would just explain what we all know from the books and Sirius would be shocked and forgive him and we would all be happy families again! not much of a chapter, right? if i get a HUGE number of outraged readers who want a chapter for it then maybe.**

**Sorry for this mother of an authors note but i thought you all deserved an explanation! NOW you can review!**


	8. Blast from the Past

**A/N: Yes, I have been terrible at updating! I'm so sorry, but school has been insane! I know that's not much of an excuse but it's true. But, because I love you all so much and you have been so patience with my horrible updating that I have put this up a little earlier then I initially promised :)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own HP. JK Rowling=genius**

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**SIRIUS POV**

"For the last time, Sirius, we're not buying ten packets of chocolate frogs!"

"Why not?"

"Because it would cost too much and we're already on a budget, they're not good for your health and frankly, Siri, you really can't afford to put on any more weight—"

"Hey!"

"And finally, the most important reason, ITS STUPID!"

Uh oh, Lilyflower was mad. I couldn't really see why, to be honest. All I had asked for were a few more boxes of chocolate frogs! I desperately wanted an Albus Dumbledore card, but for some reason they were very scarce in Above.

I turned on my most charming smile, "But Lily, my dearest, most beautifullest flower, you know how much I want that Dumbledore card. Just a few more—"

"NO!" Her face was starting to turn as red as her hair, and I knew from years of experience of getting on her bad side that the reddening of the face was _not _a good sign. I backed away warily, my hands raised in surrender as I moved out of her hitting zone. She glared at me, "Sirius Black! I am _never _taking you shopping again! All you have done for the last hour is whine and beg for more sweets. You will take the two frogs you were given, the ones I am happy to pay for, and you will like them, regardless of the person inside. Got it?"

I looked away, avoiding her eyes. I couldn't lie to her—she would see straight through it. Unfortunately she could also see through my evasion of her question. She got right up in my face, her eyes burning into mine.

"I said, got it?"

"Okay, Okay." I gave in, holding out my hand for the first frog. She handed it over with a resigned sigh and I unwrapped it happily. I popped it into my mouth before it could hop away and chewed the delicious chocolate. I turned the card over excitedly, but groaned in disappointment as I noticed the familiar face. "Not this one again! I have so bloody many of this guy! He's so over-exposed!"

"Who is it?" Lily asked as she shoved two out of the thousand shopping bags we had into my arms.

"Harry," I grumbled, "I swear, he is the only card Above has."

Lily stopped walking, still managing to put her hands on her hips despite the many bags she was carrying. "Harry? As in my son and your godson. That Harry?"

I rolled my eyes, "No, the other Harry Potter with the lightning bolt scar who defeated Lord Voldemort and saved the Wizarding World."

She didn't seem to appreciate my joke, for some reason. Sometimes I really don't see what Prongs loves about her so much. I mean, she's really quite attractive, kind, generous and caring and… well okay, I can see what he loves about her. But sometimes she can have no sense of humour.

Also, she can be right scary when she's angry. Now being the perfect example. Lily has always been the only women who could honestly scare me apart from my mother (who only terrified me so much because I knew she would have actually killed me if she had got a good enough shot in) and Professor McGonagall (but I knew she always loved me, somewhere deep, deep down).

"Sirius," Lily said in her scary tone of voice, dragging me from my thoughts, "You really shouldn't speak about my son like that, let alone your godson! Think of all he's been through! Without us! He deserves every chocolate frog card he has, here and on earth. He was the one who defeated Voldemort for Merlin's sake and—"

Thankfully, she was cut from her rant when a woman in around her mid-thirties ran out of nowhere crying, "Lily! It is you! Oh, it's so good to see you!" and hugged her tightly.

I barely registered the woman's brown hair pulled back tightly into a very familiar-looking bun before I noticed Lily's face over her shoulder. Her expression clearly showed her surprise and there was a hint of fear in her eyes as well.

The shock that was also evident on her features sent me into a fit of gasping laughter. After a moment I bent over my knees, one hand clutching them for support while the other arm was around my stomach as a laughed loudly.

While I was in my fit, the hugging woman turned from Lily and faced me with a strange expression. Her eyes were shining with happiness, gleaming behind her glasses, but her mouth was set into a frown that aged and lined her face ten years.

"Sirius Black!" she shouted and at the sound of her voice came the sudden realisation of who she was, which snapped me from my laughter quickly.

"Professor McGonagall?"

**LILY**

I didn't even get the chance to wonder who the familiar voice that called my name belonged to before whoever it was engulfed me in a tight hug.

I could feel the surprise on my face as I was hugged by a complete stranger, yet I couldn't stop the embarrassed indignation that rose up inside me when Sirius started laughing at me as if it was the funniest thing he had ever seen. And he has seen some funny things. Trust me.

However, for some strange reason, at the sound of my immature friend's raucous laughter the stranger mercifully let go of me to face Sirius.

When she snapped his name in a manner and tone that I would know anywhere, having heard it everyday from my favourite professor at Hogwarts, it suddenly clicked in my mind who it was.

Sirius evidently had been following roughly the same thought process because when she called his name, his head flicked up and his eyes opened wide. His mouth opened and then closed a few times before he seemed to find his voice.

"Professor McGonagall?"

She sighed, "I haven't been your teacher for over 60 years, Black, and yet you still call me Professor?"

He grinned immediately and I rolled my eyes as his face took on the cheeky look that I used to see everyday at school and had hoped to never see again.

"I'm terribly sorry, Minnie," he smirked, "I shall make a conscious effort to remember to never be so rude as to call you Professor again. You know, you were always so determined to prove that you hated it when I called you Minnie at school but I knew you were never telling the truth."

He hugged her tightly, even lifting her off the ground slightly in his enthusiasm. I caught a glimpse of a grin on her face, an action I knew was quite rare for her to make, having only seen it a few times while I was alive and the sight of it made me smile in return.

I shook my head, still smiling, "That was a bad idea, Minerva." Her first name rolled off my tongue easily, having called her that in the Order meetings we had all attended after finishing school. "Now he won't stop with that silly nickname. And just wait until he tells James, they will probably torture you endlessly, falling into the old school pattern. As much as I would like to think they have matured since you last saw them, I don't like to lie."

McGonagall turned to properly face me again and I was disarmed to see the changes in her face—not just in the physical appearance and features, but also in her expressions. Her mostly wrinkle-free face, happy eyes and gentle smile were stark differences to how she looked the last time I saw her and it made me slightly uncomfortable. I didn't know where I stood with her anymore.

"Lily," she smiled, walking slowly towards me, her soft expression lingering, "I'm sorry I gave you a bit of a fright before. I was just so happy to see you after such a long time and with such a horribly sudden…end."

Flattered that just catching sight of me had triggered a reaction like that from Minerva McGonagall, I smiled. "It's fine. I'm really happy to see you too, Minerva." I glanced back at Sirius who was still grinning widely. "We both are."

"You bet!" he agreed enthusiastically, once again bursting with energy. "And just wait until James and Remus and Nikki see you again!" He grabbed us both by the wrists and started tugging us towards the exit. "Come on! No time to waste!"

By the time we got back to my house, McGonagall and I were both out of breath, still being dragged by the four year old trapped inside a twenty year old's body.

"Sirius!" I puffed as we reached the front door, "Nikki and Remus aren't even here and I'm assuming you don't want Minerva to have to repeat her story more then once, do you?"

He looked at me with what could only be described as disappointment, which I thought was pretty ironic considering the topic of our last argument. "Lily," he scoffed, "The only things I learnt in Minnie's classes," he glanced at her quickly, "No offence of course, Professor M, is" he began counting them off his fingers, "Never try to transfigure yourself on the first go without someone else who knows the counter curse watching nearby, never use transfiguration as a form of pranking or revenge unless you want some kind of death wish, and that Minnie does _not _like to repeat herself." He paused, looking quite pleased with himself at the lessons had learnt over the period of seven years, as if they were life lessons you couldn't live without. They probably were, in his mind.

"Besides," he continued, "I'm going to get Moony and Nikki now, so don't let our favourite professor spill any juicy secrets without me there!"

I rolled my eyes and invited McGonagall inside while he scampered off. James was sitting in the kitchen reading _The Daily Prophet _when McGonagall and I walked in.

He glanced up and smiled, folding the newspaper. "Lily! I thought you were going to be hours more. I'm impressed." He only seemed to notice my companion when he stood up to help me with the shopping bags.

His eyes flickered from me to our guest uncertainly. "Er, Lils? Did you transfigure Sirius into a woman? Because as much as I love you, I really wouldn't appreciate you adding…womanly parts to my best friend."

Before I could snap at him, McGonagall beat me to the punch.

"James Potter!" she scolded, "That is no way to talk to your wife! Especially with a guest in the house, even if they are your friend, or you think they are. And you should know that transfiguration between genders is extremely dangerous unless you have the appropriate and essential knowledge of the subject!"

James stood there for a moment, stunned, before he squinted at her, clearly trying to place the familiar voice and expressions. When it clicked, his mouth dropped open comically.

"Professor McGonagall?" he gasped. But before she could answer, he broke into a huge grin and wrapped her up in his arms. "Minnie! Oh, how I've missed my favourite Transfiguration professor!"

She smiled again and for a moment it lit up her whole face but by the time James let her go it had passed.

"It's very good to see you, James." She said, her tone and facial expressions back to normal, "It is good to see the both of you," she amended, looking between us before heaving a sigh that seemed painful and heavy, as if there was a whole life of sadness behind it. "It was such a shock when you were…killed. I was the first to arrive, you know, after Albus of course." Her face was drawn in sadness and if I didn't know any better, I could have sworn I saw a tear in her brown eye. "Poor Harry, left all alone to those muggles. I didn't see him for eleven years, but Albus always kept me in touch with how he was progressing, of course."

Her eyes stared vaguely at the wall as James and I led her into the lounge room, as if she was seeing into another time, a deep memory. "I remember when I first saw him at Hogwarts. I was the first teacher they met and they looked positively terrified, as all first years do." There was that smile again!

James scoffed obnoxiously as we sat next to her on the couch, "I wasn't scared. I'd already met you before."

"Never in the school environment, James. And I know you played it off like you knew everything and could handle anything but you were as nervous as the others."

"I was terrified," I admitted. I could still remember how sick I felt as we were led up to the steps that went into the Great Hall and I saw the intimidating, towering figure of the woman currently sitting next to me.

McGonagall nodded, acknowledging she had already noticed that. "I saw the same fear I remember you having in Harry's face. He looked so much like you, James, it was as though you were back at Hogwarts again. Even though he looked so terrified, I could still imagine him wreaking havoc on the students and teachers just like his father did."

"Bet you loved that idea." James laughed.

She shook her head wryly, her mouth lifted slightly at the corners, "I wasn't particularly excited, I admit, but when I saw his eyes my fears were dashed. They were exactly the same as yours, Lily, and somehow I knew that the little physical feature of his mother would reflect as a larger part of his personality, calming his natural sense of pranking and trouble-making. It did, I was right, but it didn't hinder his rule-breaking—that was a Potter habit that was too deeply ingrained in his blood."

James grinned again, just as Sirius burst into the room. The king of perfect timing was accompanied by Nikki and Remus, both looking mighty frazzled.

They smiled when they saw the Professor sitting on the couch and they both hurried over to her, greeting her with tight hugs.

"Hi Minerva," Remus grinned as he, Nikki and Sirius sat down on the couch opposite us. "It's really good to see you."

"You too, Remus and Nikki, of course." McGonagall said, "I'm glad to see you both here and happy. I was so upset when both your lives were cut so short and so harshly."

Nikki shrugged in her usual, easy-going manner, "That's okay. Well, it wasn't for a long time, for either of us, but I know I've made my peace with it all now. It has been over seventy years, after all, and now I'm here with my best friends and I'm happy. Besides, I was never one to hold a grudge, I'm sure you know that."

"Indeed I do," McGonagall nodded, "I always remember you as the rational one of you little group."

Remus frowned at not being called rational, but he was smiling along with the rest of us despite himself and he didn't push the issue.

We sat in silence for a moment, but it wasn't uncomfortable. It was like this was a completely normal thing for us all—part of a routine that was easy and comfortable. Even though it wasn't spoken, I knew we were all thinking back, remembering those simple days that we thought were so complicated. Transfiguration was a particularly fun class for us because it was the only lesson we had where we were all seven of us were together.

I had thought it was torture for half the year because McGonagall forced me to sit next to James, the boy I thought I hated. We were already Heads of School together and were therefore forced to share a common room so I thought it was terribly unfair that I had to put up with sitting next to him in class too, even though it was only one lesson. Luckily for the both of us, it was a lot easier to be with him then I thought and eventually Transfiguration morphed into something entertaining and fun for me, rather then being something I dreaded coming to.

The dislike James and I had for each other, or at least the dislike I had for James, gradually turned into love and after we were married once we were out of school, we made sure to thank McGonagall for not listening to my constant complaining and protests and forcing me to sit next to him. He started off as being the boy I couldn't stand, but eventually became the boy I couldn't stand to live without.

"So what did we miss?" Sirius asked, barely containing his eagerness.

"Minnie was just explaining how she thought Harry had inherited my natural trouble-making ability." James supplied, with arrogance in his voice and still grinning hugely.

Remus and Nikki smiled while Sirius laughed loudly.

"That would have made things interesting for you, Minerva," Nikki said, "At least he didn't have these other two," she jerked her thumb towards Sirius and Remus, who looked hurt, "helping him with his mischievous plans."

"That's true," McGonagall conceded, "but he did have Ron and Hermione, and although they didn't quite reach the level of scheming as the Marauders did," she sent a pointed glance their way and all three of them grinned, "what those three got up to while they were at school caused more mischief then your school endeavours, I'm afraid boys."

James, Sirius and even Remus stared at her, offended and outraged.

"Not even possible," James snorted at the same time Sirius cried, "Nonsense!"

Remus just shook his head as if he couldn't even begin to comprehend what he was hearing.

"But they did," McGonagall maintained her dignified and determined manner, "Not as many prank pulling, just more rule-breaking. Most of the time it was to help someone else who was in some sort of trouble. Life of death or otherwise. I'm sure you've all heard the stories from various sources."

Sirius nodded with what I'm sure he thought was a pensive face, his hands clasped in front of him, his fingers pointed upwards like a very bad impression of Dumbledore. "Numerous times, but not from your point of view, oh wise Minnie McGonagall. Do tell."

She rolled her eyes at his antics, but after a moment of thoughtful silence she nodded and started to tell.

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**A/N: Hope you liked it! This chapter will be the beginning of my new story so you will see it again. I challenge you to think of the plot of my new story (its not that hard) and I would love to hear your ideas! **

**It might be a while until I set up the story properly, though because I want to have finished writing it before I start updating. That way there can be faster updates for all my lovely readers :) But I've only written 2 chapters apart from this one so far so I don't really know how long it will be. **

**So put me on Auther Alert and review this chapter in the meantime!**


	9. The New Girl

**Yes, its been a very long time. I'm super busy at the moment with school and everything so I haven't had the chance to write anything except this chapter :( but this one had a special purpose. I wrote it for my friend Georgia's 18th birthday, because she has been my HP buddy for forever and is always the first person to read my fanfics. So I thought she deserved not only a chapter, but also a character.**

**Its a bit of a different story and a little fragmented from the original Marauders tales but bare with me!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter.**

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**REMUS**

"Moonyyyy…" Sirius was whining, as he always did when he was forced to do things he didn't want to do, "Are we done here yet?"

I shook my head, unable to contain my smile. Padfoot had always hated going to the library, even when we were at Hogwarts and he didn't have a choice. You would have thought that after knowing him for over sixty years he would have gotten over it, but no. Nothing has changed.

"Padfoot, I'm almost finished, I promise. Dora just wanted me to pick up some self-help book…can you please go grab it for me?" When he looked uninterested, I added, "It will mean leaving here earlier…"

"Okay!" he grabbed the name of the book off me and almost ran to sniff out the book, just like a real dog.

I turned back to study the range of History of Magic books and was still chuckling under my breath when someone who was definitely not Sirius called my name.

"Remus? Remus Lupin?"

I froze. I knew that voice. It didn't matter that I hadn't heard it for almost sixty years, or that I had spent a great deal of my time trying to make myself forget it. The moment I heard it, my mind was filled with old memories of laughter and private whispers and slow strolls around the icy Hogwarts grounds.

Slowly I turned to face the one person I had been trying to forget since I was sixteen.

She was standing amongst the Transfiguration section, peering at me curiously, almost shyly, as if she wasn't sure she was doing the right thing by making her presence known.

I wasn't sure either.

When I looked at her though, she smiled, her brown eyes warming and the doubt dropping from her face. "It is you," she smiled, and I had to look away for a moment because it was like staring directly into the sun. "I wasn't sure. It's been so long I didn't know if you had changed a lot or not."

I shrugged, trying to remain calm and aloof but the smile that was threatening to break through my lips ruined the façade. "Guess not."

She laughed lightly, "Don't worry, it's a good thing. It just means you didn't get any less handsome." I struggled to keep the shock off my face when she winked. _She was flirting? _I wanted to tell her that I was married and happy and in love but my mouth didn't seem to want to work.

It had been so long, and I couldn't decide how to react. Part of me wanted nothing more then to hug her tightly and ask her where she had been for all those years, but the other part of me wanted to run away to avoid the memories that were threatening to overcome me.

_What do I do?_

I skidded to a stop in front of the familiar wooden door and knocked quickly. Still freaking out a little, well alright, a lot, and not having enough patience to wait or an answer, I barged into the house. James, having never gotten over the shock of Voldemort bursting into their home on that fateful night, came running in from the living room, his face crumpling with relief when he saw me.

"Merlin, Moony," he breathed, "You know how I hate it when you do that."

Lily, surprisingly calmer then James, came strolling in but stopped in surprise at the expression on my face, "Remus! What's wrong?"

I shook my head, "I just saw someone I didn't think I would see…well ever again. It may have surprised me a little."

"A little?" James laughed, "You look like you've seen a ghost, mate." He grabbed my arm and pulled me into the living room where Nikki was sitting on the opposite couch, looking thoroughly shocked at my appearance.

Nikki tentatively leaned forward as Lily took a seat next to her, "Who did you see, Remus?"

I opened my mouth to reply when the sound of the front door almost bursting off its hinges sounded through the house. This time, James didn't even have the chance to get up before the frantic visitor came running into the room.

"Sirius?" Lily, Nikki and James said in shock.

I stood up, "Pads, I'm sorry I left you in such a rush. I know how much you hate being alone in libraries, but I just…I _had_ to get out of there."

"Rem, if it were any other time and I hadn't just seen the person I have just seen, I would be trying to kill you right now." He grinned suddenly, "Does you sprinting out of your own personal haven like you were being chased by Voldy have anything to do with the fact that Georgia was also there?"

"GEORGIA?" The others shouted.

I nodded wearily, collapsing back into my seat. I could feel all of their eyes on me as they mirrored my posture, sinking into the cushions. "What happened?" Lily asked gently.

"I was looking for the new book on the Warlocks of Norway when she called my name." I said, closing my eyes and leaning back on couch, "I just looked at her, I had no idea what to do. I could barely talk. I couldn't think of anything to say. I just couldn't find the words."

"Moony, not being able to think of words?" James blurted out, "This must be serious."

I opened my eyes to glare at him briefly, before shutting them again. "I had no idea how to react. I mean, what do you say to a person who left you with nothing but a letter and a year's worth of memories?" They nodded sympathetically and I knew that they understood where I was coming from. They had not been as close to her as I had been but they still felt her loss when she was gone—we were friends, more then anything else.

"So what did you do?" Nikki almost whispered, "Did she talk to you?"

I nodded, frowning, "I think she was flirting with me. But maybe that's just her, now. It has been over half a century after all. I don't know, it's been so long since I've flirted that it was hard to tell."

"What are you talking about, Moony?" James laughed loudly, "You and Tonks flirt all the time. You're almost worse then Nikki and Padfoot."

I rolled my eyes at him, "I meant, I haven't flirted with anyone _other then my wife _for a long time. It's a little different, Prongs." Then I remembered, "I should be home by now. Dora's probably wondering where I got to." I stood up, getting stressed again, "I should go."

"Um, you really shouldn't do that, Rem," Sirius said, shuffling his feet. I narrowed my eyes at him, instantly recognising the common sign that he had done something he shouldn't have.

"Why not?" I said lowly.

He gulped a little, "Well, because it would be _really _awkward if you weren't here when Georgia came over…"

"_WHAT?"_ I wasn't the only one who had yelled, but I sure as hell was the loudest.

"Please, please, please don't be mad at me." He jumped up and down on the spot a little before catching the look on my face. I felt rather murderous, which was a rare emotion for me. I curled my fists into tight balls, ready to swing them at the next moment. Sirius obviously noticed because he started backing away guiltily, "Okay, you're mad. But I didn't realise that you didn't want to see her! I was completely shocked to see her as well, okay? I didn't know what to do!"

"Sirius, what exactly did she say to you?" Nikki asked, speaking slowly so he could absorb her every meaning.

He frowned, "Well, I had found the book that Moony wanted me to get because I_ really_wanted to get out of that torture chamber so I was heading back to where I left him, and there was Georgia! She was just chillin' but the Warlock section and when she saw me she acted like it had only been a couple of days since we had been together, rather then over sixty years."

"Really?" I asked, suspecting that he wasn't telling the whole truth.

I was right.

"No, not really," Sirius admitted, making everyone groan, "She was asking me how I was, what I'd been up to, that sort of thing. I told her that she must have just missed you, Moony but she sort shrugged and said 'no, I've seen him', which I thought was strange because you weren't there anymore, and we all know how you used to hang around her at every chance you got."

The need to punch him was getting stronger and stronger by the minute, and this was me. I never punched anyone, unless it was a life or death situation. Then again, if Georgia was to come over tonight…and Dora was there…my ex-girlfriend meeting my wife…I didn't know if I could survive that.

That was great news. Maybe I could punch Sirius without feeling bad about it. At least that was something to look forward to.

I made myself focus back on him, as he was still rabbiting on, "Well then she started asking how everyone else was, what they were doing—"

"Oh, we're doing so much!" Nikki cried, sarcasm thick in her voice, "You know, being dead and all."

Sirius shot her a look that was so…well, serious, that it was completely out of place on his face. "She seemed so interested that I invited her over so that we could all catch up. I realise _now _it wasn't that good an idea," he added, holding his hands in front of him as my desire to hit grew stronger, "But I wasn't thinking properly—"

"When are you _ever _thinking properly?" Lily demanded, voicing my thoughts, but he ignored her.

"—and you," he pointed accusingly at me, "had already abandoned me in the one place that you knew gave me nightmares!" he pouted at me, "Why would you do that to me? It was just so mean—"

"Don't you give me that puppy look, Sirius Black!" I snapped, "You've just about thrown me to the dogs!"

"Okay, first of all, I _am _the dogs!" he shouted, "because my Animagus is a dog and I didn't throw you to me…because I was the one who…" he frowned before giving up and stamping his foot, "Whatever. I'm here to help you, okay? Second of all, people have got to stop interrupting me! I would like to get one sentence out properly before other people just steal my ideas."

I couldn't help but smirk at him, "Now you know how we feel with you always cutting us off."

"You're right, it does suck to be you, Moony," Sirius retorted, wiping the smile right off my face, "Look, I know you're mad at me, and that's fine, you'll get over it soon enough. You always do. But I'm warning you so that you aren't _completely _taken by surprise. Now you have time to prepare."

"Prepare," I scoffed. "That's beside the point. What am I going to do about Dora? I need to see her. If anything, she calms me down, but I'd just feel really awkward if her and Georgia were in the same room together."

"What's the big deal, Rem?" James said, standing up and patting me on the shoulder, "Tonks is a cool girl, tell her the truth and it will be find. She knows about you and Georgia, right?"

Now it was my turn to look down and shuffle my feet.

"Remus Lupin!" Lily gasped, "How can you not have told your wife about your ex-girlfriend?"

To be honest I didn't know why. Maybe it was because I had tried so hard for so many years to forget about Georgia. Or maybe it was because the subject had never come up. Either way, now I wished that I had somehow managed to broach the subject, because I might have been able to avoid the conversation that I knew I had to have with Dora before we had our visitor.

When I told everyone as much, they all shook their head at me in disappointment. It was an odd thing to see—I was usually the one who had all the knowledge. Judging by the grins on Prongs and Padfoot's faces, I guessed that they could see that being the stupid one of the group was making me rather uncomfortable.

"Well, then the only thing I can do for you is to try and make it all go a bit faster." Sirius said before bounding out the door without further explanation.

I turned to Nikki, my eyebrows raised in question. She shrugged, "Don't look at me. Just because I'm dating that buffoon doesn't mean I understand what's going through that twisted mind of his all the time. I assume that he's gone to get Tonks for you, so that you can explain the situation. Or he might have gotten Georgia so this could all be over with. I don't know."

I gave her a strong look that said _you're no help_, before collapsing back on the couch again and closing my eyes. I couldn't figure out how I was feeling. My emotions were running around me like they were livewires and I couldn't keep track. I was annoyed that Georgia had showed up now, when I was so content, but I couldn't help but be happy to see her. She had been such a trustworthy and fun person to be around with that I couldn't keep from having the need to talk to her again, even after everything that happened. I knew none of it was he fault and I had never blamed her for why she had left so suddenly, but I had always desired the answers that she had never been able to give me.

Perhaps today was the day that I would receive the information I'd been waiting for.

After a few more long moments of quiet, Sirius ran back into the room, dragging, as Nikki had guessed, my wife with him. She didn't look particularly pleased to have been pulled like a toy down the street so I got up to take her hand and sit her down next to me.

"Remus, what the hell is going on? How hard is it to pick up two books from the library? You practically live there for Merlin's sake! And what do you have to tell me that my idiot cousin claims is 'something that I should have always known, but obviously didn't due to my stupid husband's non-functioning brain'." She shook her head. "There were so many things wrong with that statement that I didn't even bother correcting him. What's really wrong?"

As her voice lowered to almost a plea, I sighed. I had to tell her, and though I knew it would put me on a rollercoaster of emotions, I knew I could do it.

Looking my darling wife in the eyes, I said, "Dora, because of the…current situation, I'm forced to tell you a story." I shook my head at her gently when she went to ask questions, "Please just listen, it will be easier for all of us that way. By the end, most of your questions will have been answered, hopefully." Gathering my courage, I said, "This is the story of the six wonderful, happy, heartbreaking months I spent with Georgia."

And I started telling her the story.

_The new year had begun and everyone was excited to start their sixth year. Well, most of them._

"_I'm sick of being at school," James whined, "I just want to get out and start being an Auror!" his eyes lit up behind his glasses and his hands moved with spirit as he talked, "I would start being new and inexperienced, but then they will all realise how awesome I am after I capture Death Eaters easily and show my bravery in duels. Probably on my first or second go."_

"_Aw, Jamesie. So naïve." Sirius patted him condescendingly on the head as they sat around the fire in the common room, having staked out their spot the moment they walked in. The four of them were being watched by many of their fellow Gryffindors who were sitting around the room, watching them with awe. _

_Remus laughed and Peter tittered along with him, not fully understanding what was so funny. "Padfoot, you can't talk. You want to do the exact same thing." Remus pointed out and Sirius scoffed._

"_No way, Moony. I'm going to start out small and slowly build up my reputation. Then, when there comes a chance to prove myself, I'm going to go in there, to the middle of the battle and show my courage!" he shrugged, "I'll probably end up sacrificing myself and dying for someone, Prongs most likely. He's the one who would get himself in stupid situations."_

"_Hey!" James protested as his friends laughed around him._

_Just then, a group of girls walked in, giggling to each other. The Marauders looked up and frowned at the new addition to the group._

"_Who's the hottie with Lily and co?" Sirius asked, voicing his friends thoughts, but in a much more unintelligent way._

"_Her name's Georgia," James shrugged, keeping his eyes on Lily, "She's new this year. Transferred from Beauxbatons." He frowned at his friends who were watching him with raised eyebrows, "What? Her parents are friends with my parents. They work for the Ministry."_

_The others nodded, accepting his explanation. After all, they knew that he was still in love with Lily. Sirius, though interested in the new girl, was secretly caught up in watching the sassy blonde next to her. "Oi, Williamson!" He shouted across the room._

_The girls stopped and turned to face the boys, looking surprised to see them there. Most of the time, the Marauders made their presence known to them quite quickly considering their loud laughter and total lack of appreciation of people's personal space. But they had been so caught up in getting to know Georgia, that they had gone unnoticed by the girls. Until now, that is._

_Nikki rolled her eyes, "What, Black?"_

_He shrugged, "Just wanted to say hi. How were your holidays? Miss me?"_

"_Oh desperately," She exaggerated a sigh, slowly walking over to where he sat, swinging her hips. Lily and Mary watched with amusement, having always enjoyed watching their friend tease Sirius. Georgia watched Nikki's confidence in communicating her distaste to the gorgeous boy in awe. "I thought of you everyday," she was saying, "wishing I could see you, hoping that you missed me just as much as I _longed _for you."_

_Sirius smirked, his eyes glazed over slightly as Nikki came to a stop in front of him, "I knew it. You desperately want me. Wanna go find a broom closet with me?"_

_She grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled sharply and he gave a high-pitched squeal that made everyone in the Common Room look at him. Everyone that wasn't already watching, that is. _

"_Does that answer your question, you ass?" Nikki sneered._

_He glared as the Marauders laughed behind him, "Merlin woman, you certainly know how to get on my bad side. No one messes with the hair. You would be hunted down by thousands of angry girls if you did something to my crowning glory."_

"_I don't doubt that." She muttered and he grinned. Before he could say anything else especially obnoxious, Remus took charge of the situation._

"_It's good to see you again, Nikki," he smiled charmingly at the rest of the girls. "All of you."_

_Lily noticed his eyes lingering on her new friend and she grinned, not denying herself a chance to play matchmaker. Pulling Georgia in front to face the boys she said, "Georgia, these idiots are our fellow Gryffindors. Just a word of warning, Remus is the only sensible one out of all of them." She watched in satisfaction as he shook Georgia's hand gently and she blushed. "Peter's the small one there, the idiot who won't shut up is Black, and the one with the glasses and stupid messy hair is Potter." She glared at him when he grinned widely at her._

"_How lovely of you to grace us with your presence again, dearest Lilyflower. How was your break?"_

"_It was wonderful," she smiled, "Only because I didn't have to see your face everyday."_

_James clutched dramatically at his heart, "Oh, you wound me, Evans." _

_It was then that Georgia stepped forward, peering at James, "James Potter, is that you?"_

"_Hey, Georgia," he laughed as she ran over to hug him, "Long time, no see."_

"_It's been ages!" she cried, leaning back to look at him properly, "You look different."_

"_Different how? More good-looking? Smarter? Deviously charming?"_

_She shook her head, grinning, "Nah, just older. Look!" she gasped, running her hand through his hair, "I think I see a grey hair!"_

"_WHAT?"_ _James's hand flew to his head in shock while the rest of the group laughed loudly, "Where?"_

_Georgia grabbed a random hair and pulled it out, making James squeak in pain, "There, got it. Oh no, my mistake. It just looked grey. Must have been the light." She held the piece of hair she pulled in front of him, showing that it was clearly a plain dark strand._

_He glared at her while everyone else was in stitches. The only people how openly made fun of James Potter at Hogwarts were the Marauders (apart from Peter, who wasn't quite brave enough) and Lily (but that was a given). The teachers, especially Professor McGonagall also never held back to putting him in his place, but it wasn't nearly as funny. So, everyone found it very refreshing that someone else had the guts to mock the all powerful, perpetually popular, Potter._

_Remus managed to calm himself for a moment to say, "I think you'll fit in just fine. Welcome to Hogwarts."_

_He tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach when she smiled broadly at him._

"And so she had you under her spell," Sirius sighed, shaking his head at me. "Not unlike the Sirius Spell, I might add."

Everyone in the room rolled their eyes, "There is no such thing as the Sirius Spell!" Lily cried in exasperation.

"Oh, Lilyflower," Sirius shook his head, "You know as well as I do that there definitely _is _a Sirius Spell. You have seen the symptoms of it first hand. I know that you know what they are but I'm going to say them again because I can!" he help up his hand in an attempt to stop the many complaints that were flying to him at that moment.

Then, in a loud voice he stated, "The symptoms of the Sirius Spell include, but are not limited to: staring, drooling, fainting, giggling at anything I say, attempting to get in my line of vision every time I turn around, starting a fight over me, declaring love, grabbing at me, hugging me or just jumping me in general."

"And I've said before but I'll say it again," Nikki mocked, "The Sirius Disease."

Sirius pouted as everyone laughed, "Oh shut up. I'm sure Tonks really wants to hear the rest of the details about Moony and Georgie-poo, right cousin dearest?"

She rolled her eyes, "To be quite honest I would be perfectly fine not knowing."

"If you insist!" Sirius said gleefully, "But I think I will skip time because Remmy's life could be really boring." That was completely untrue and he knew it. I had always had a rather exciting life. Admittedly it was sometimes _too _exciting for my liking, but at least it was never boring, as Padfoot claimed it was. Ignoring my scoff, Sirius took over the story-telling duties.

_Over the next few weeks, Lily, Nikki and Mary found that they had quickly become attached to the new student. Her easy-going attitude and quick humour made her fun to be around but she had an air of mystery that kept not only them but the rest of the school guessing._

_It was very unusual for a student to transfer to Hogwarts after first year, so naturally rumours about the reasons for Georgia's arrival began circulating quickly. Some suspected that she had been expelled from Beauxbatons for practicing the Dark Arts. Some thought that she had been hiding from Death Eaters but they thought she was already dead, so she could now safely attend school. The opposite gossip was that being at Hogwarts _was _where she was hiding from Death Eaters._

_Funnily enough, no one guessed that she had just moved with her normal, working parents and wanted to continue on with school like normal._

_However, due Georgia's familial attachment to James meant that the girls had been forced to spend more time with the Marauders, much to James and Sirius's joy and Lily and Nikki's disgruntlement. Mary didn't really care either way, having never had a problem with any of the boys (but of course she always took Lily and Nikki's side if it ever came to a fight—which it often did), and Peter never seemed to pay enough attention to notice the presence of four extra girls._

_That's what they thought, anyway._

_Remus found that he was enjoying Georgia's company more and more, and to both of their (secret) delights, they had bonded over their love of books and muggle films. Their late night sessions in the library caused many raised eyebrows and whispered questions to be passed around the group but with not many answers. For the moment, it seemed that Remus and Georgia were just as good friends and Georgia and James were._

_Apart from combining the once very separate friendship groups, Georgia's presence shed light on a few repressed feelings. Lily began to grow more and more annoyed at how chummy James and her new friend were. She was frustrated to discover one cold evening as they were all sitting round the fire that Georgia harboured a secret love and talent for flying. This meant that James immediately offered to take her out on broom and show her around the sights of Hogwarts from thousands of feet above._

_Though Lily would never admit it to anyone if they asked her about it later, she sat up in the common room, until well past three in the morning, waiting for Georgia and James to return. When they eventually entered the room, talking in whispers and looking thoroughly windswept, with wild hair and pink cheeks she breathed a secret sigh of relief. _

_Both Georgia and James were surprised to find the red head sitting by the fire, her worn _Pride and Prejudice _sitting limp in her lap._

"_Evans?" James whispered loudly, "What are you still doing up? What happened to your all-important brain-rebooting?"_

_Lily rolled her eyes, trying not to notice how adorable he looked with the tip of his nose pink from the wind. "For your information, Potter, its Sunday tomorrow, so my brain can take a break. You're just jealous that at three in the morning I still have more functioning brain cells then you have in a year."_

"_You no longer have the proper grounds to say that, Evans." James retorted, "Who beat you in the Transfiguration final last year, hmm?"_

_She glared at him, the heat from the fire lighting up her eyes. James smirked, "That's what I thought."_

_Then he turned his back on her, ripping his eyes from her glowing hair, and continued up the stairs to the Boys Dormitories. Just as he got to the steps, he turned back and said, "Georgia, we should definitely do that again sometime. You do fly a bit funny, but you're not that bad."_

"_I'm totally awesome, you can't deny it," Georgia teased, "You're just embarrassed that I could fly rings around the Quidditch Captain."_

"_You caught me," he winked, "If there's a spot on the team, you should definitely try out. Night."_

_As soon as his feet disappeared up the stairs, Georgia turned to Lily with a raised eyebrow. "What?" Lily said defensively, "I can't help it, Potter just pushes all my buttons."_

_Georgia laughed, "Oh yeah, he hits your buttons alright."_

"_What's that supposed to mean," Lily demanded, catching the new girls tone._

"_Come on, Lily," Georgia sighed, sitting down next to her, "It's so obvious! I've only been here for a few weeks and already I just want you to stop being so stubborn and jump him already!" _

_Lily was so shocked that she could only gape at her for a few long moments before she found her voice again. "Are you mad?" When she realised that she had practically yelled it for the whole Gryffindor Tower to hear, she lowered her voice, "I _don't _want to jump Potter. Ugh," she shuddered._

_Georgia rolled her eyes, "Don't lie to yourself. It never helps the situation. Look, I'll be the first to admit that I don't really know you all that well, but I can tell that you're being stubborn about feeling anything but hatred towards James. He's a good guy, Lily. You could do a lot worse."_

"_But I could do better," Lily pointed out, determined to keep her feelings the same._

"_I'm going to be totally honest with you," Georgia said hesitantly, having already learnt, even in her short time at school, that Lily's temper was something to be _very _afraid of. "After seeing you two together, even if all you do is yell at each other, I can tell that you're absolutely perfect for each other." _

_She observed Lily's blank expression with a slight smile, "Lily, I've known James for a long time. And I honestly think he is an amazing person—he's smart and funny and you can't deny he's good looking," she grinned widely when Lily blushed, "And I know for a fact that he really cares about you. That's more obvious to me then anything else. But also, Remus told me that he's been in love with you since first year. With all the girls that surround him here, that's as good a sign as any."_

"_I'm just so confused…" Lily trailed off, trying to name the emotions that were swimming inside her. Rationally, she knew that she didn't hate Potter any more. Maybe she never did. But the stubborn part of her was determined that she could never go out with him, especially after all those years of saying no. She shook her head and changed the subject. "So Remus told you that huh? You two seem very friendly. And I can tell _you _for a fact that he doesn't spend all his time with just anyone. I think he likes you."_

_She grinned victoriously when Georgia blushed. _The tables have turned, _Lily thought quietly. _

"_I don't know about that…" Georgia whispered, "We're just friends. I really like spending time with him but that's all it is. We're just hanging out."_

_Lily sighed, turning Georgia's words on herself, "Don't lie to yourself. It never helps the situation." She laughed lightly when Georgia rolled her eyes, "I've honestly never seen Remus spend so much time alone with a girl. You don't see the way he looks at you. You like him, don't you?" She added slyly._

"_Yeah," Georgia breathed, "But I don't know what I can do about it. He's never really showed any sign of liking me that way and—" _

_Suddenly the large armchair by the windowsill shifted, scraping along the wooden floor, seemingly by itself. Both girls' head snapped towards the sound, and after a moment of tense silence, they heard a familiar voice mutter, "Shit."_

"_BLACK!" Georgia and Lily yelled, belatedly remembering that it was four in the morning and no one appreciated being woken so early to the sounds of violence._

_Sirius's head appeared above the chair, an innocent expression on his face. "Oh, hi there. What are you girls doing down here at this time?"_

_They stood by the fire, almost identical murderous expressions on their faces. Internally, they were both freaking out that Sirius Black, the biggest blabber-_

_mouth in Hogwarts had possibly heard them voice their deepest secrets._

"_How much did you hear?" Lily demanded, her voice low and deadly._

_Sirius flinched, standing up and backing towards the stairs to the Boys Dorms, "Not that much, I swear. I only come down a few seconds ago."_

"_Liar," Georgia accused as they advanced on him, "How much did you really hear?"_

"_Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone anything. I may try and nudge Moony in the right direction…" he backed up more as Georgia blushed and growled at him, "But I'm not going to tell him anything, I promise. I will tell you this, though." He grinned suddenly, making the girls stop in surprise. "He likes you too. He's just a bit shy about it. But he won't stop talking about you to Prongs and Wormtail and me. Trust me, Gee, he likes you."_

_Then he bounded up the stairs, leaving Lily smug and Georgia delighted in his wake._

"This is so embarrassing," I had my face in my hands, avoiding looking at anyone, especially Dora, "Why are we telling this again?"

"Because the real Georgia could walk through the door any minute," Lily pointed out with a smile. "What time are we to expect her, anyway Sirius?"

He shrugged a little guiltily, "I just told her to come over whenever. I suspect not for a little while but I can't really give exact details."

"When have you ever been able to give exact details?" I rolled my eyes.

Sirius glared at me but his retort was cut off when Lily raised a hand, "No! I will have no fights now. We have to finish telling Tonks the story, since Remus neglected to tell his lovely wife this vital information." She leaned forward to look me in the eyes, "I know you hate this, Rem but Georgia changed you, for better and worse. She made you who Tonks fell in love with. Don't you think she has the right to know?"

Lily's guilt-tripping abilities always caught me off guard. It really was one of her great talents. It's probably how she tricks James into doing everything for her. I sighed and nodded.

A warm hand closed over mine, and I looked up to see Dora's beautiful eyes staring at me, "Remus, I know you think this is awful and embarrassing and it is a little weird for me to hear about your ex-girlfriend in such detail, it's really not that bad. She sounds like a really nice girl so that's something…and well, you know I love to hear the stories of what you lot all got up to at school."

James laughed loudly, "Oh dearest Tonks, I don't think we would have enough time to tell you all our exploits, even if we were here for a thousand years."

"They really were great, weren't they?" Sirius mused to no one in particular, his calm expression looking odd on his normally energetic face. "We were completely awesome."

"And insane," Nikki laughed, "You probably severely pre-maturely aged every professor there with your antics. Everyone walked around on edge, knowing something could pop out at them, drop on them, knock them over, lift them up or change their appearance entirely at any moment."

"Yes, yes, we were the best pranksters to pass through Hogwarts," I snapped, the anxiety starting to get to me, "Can we please get on with the story and put me out of my misery?"

_Remus did ask Georgia out to her total delight, the very next day after her and Lily's whispered conversation in the Common Room, in fact. And for a long time they were the talk of the school. The Marauders of course were well known to every student, either from fear (Slytherins) or amusement (…everyone else) and therefore Remus wasn't exactly under the radar. Although he wasn't confident and attention seeking like his other friends, he was well liked but known to be very quiet and private. So it naturally came as a surprise to most of the students to find that he had taken up with the new girl so quickly._

_But, it only took seeing them together for a moment to know that they really did care about each other. They walked to class together, sat together. They were the It couple of the school. The only people who weren't at all surprised by this new outcome were the other Marauders and Lily, Nikki and Mary who had been watching them, waiting for it to happen since the beginning of the year. _

_Lily and Sirius were smug, knowing that it was their inputs that led to the getting-together in the first place. Nikki and Mary were happy for their friends, knowing that they were the perfect couple. James watched the two of them wistfully, wishing that one day he could have that with someone…preferably someone with red hair and green eyes._

_Peter, though no one really noticed (because well, who notices Peter?) took the new relationship the hardest. Being the quietest and smallest out of the two groups he was often looked over and so no one had seen how his eyes had lingered on Georgia since she had taken her first steps into the Gryffindor Common Room on the first day. Peter knew he was in trouble the moment he noticed Remus and Georgia spending more time together, because he would never have the courage to tell her how he felt, and he was loyal to his friends—he would never do that to Remus._

_So he just went along, trying to act as normal as possible, but his few contributions to conversations became even less and his ideas for the Marauder's prank dwindled. He kept a careful eye on the new lovebirds, watching and waiting for his turn to catch the attention of the pretty brunette. _

_One night, the two groups were sitting around the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room their jokes and laughter filling the room. Lily, Nikki and Mary were now spending almost all their time with the boys, but they didn't complain because they knew how important it was for Georgia to be with them as well as Remus. However, the more time the girls spent with the Marauders, the more they relaxed and genuinely enjoyed themselves, not that they would ever admit it to anyone-–they had spent to many years hating them for a sudden change of heart._

_Over the last few weeks they had discovered that the Marauders' jokes could _actually _be funny, their pranks did have an element of intelligence to them and that…worst of all…James and Sirius were actually good guys, despite their immature actions and/or arrogance._

_Now, in the Common Room, James, Nikki and Sirius were animatedly discussing tactics for the Quidditch game against Slytherin that was coming up, with everyone else listening with amusement._

"…_and then, to play on their weakness, you and Padfoot," James said, indicating to Nikki, "fly towards their keeper just as our Chasers head down that end with quaffle, to intimidate him. You know how he easily scares." He and Sirius grinned at each other, no doubt thinking of one of their many pranks on the Slytherins._

"_I wish there was room on the team," Georgia sighed from where she sat, curled up in the armchair with Remus, "I would have loved to be able to play."_

_He stroked her hair lightly, "Don't worry about it, Georgia. There's always next year. Besides, with how James trains his team, there's bound to be a major injury sooner or later, and then you will get your chance."_

_Everyone laughed, knowing that it was rather true—James was a great captain but he trained his team to their bones with exhausting and sometimes dangerous drills. Georgia giggled and kissed him on the cheek in thank you while James frowned at his friend._

"_How dare you, Moony! I am a strong and caring captain, always looking out for my team's safety."_

"_Oh yes, because safe is definitely the word to describe last nights drill. Let's see, what did we have to do, Black?" Nikki turned to Sirius, a mock thoughtful expression on her face._

_He grinned and mimed hitting Lily, who was sitting on the rug in front of him with an imaginary bat. Everyone laughed when she ducked._

"_That's right," Nikki snickered, "We had to try and hit each other with our Beaters clubs."_

_Mary gasped, "James, why on earth would you make them do such a thing?"_

_Nikki answered for him, "To 'improve our agility' was the official reason. But I think that he secretly wanted me to get a few hits in on Sirius because of his disobedient behaviour at the beginning of training."_

"_I don't deny that at all," James grinned cheekily, "He was being a right prat."_

_Remus sighed, "What were you doing, Padfoot?"_

"_Let me guess," Georgia said, "You were…educating the younger team mates on broom-closet techniques."_

_Sirius looked at her blankly, "Well, I…how did you know that?"_

_Everyone burst out laughing as Georgia grinned proudly._

_James leaned over the armrest to give her a high-five. "Very impressive, George. Spoken like a true Gryffindor—"_

"—_who has been around Sirius long enough to have learnt one of the three subjects that roll around in his rather empty head." Remus finished for him, hugging his girlfriend a little bit closer to his side. Georgia was still surprising him everyday and he couldn't believe how lucky he was. She was smart and gorgeous, funny, caring and she got on with his friends better then he ever thought possible. He had to keep reminding himself that she had only been at Hogwarts since the start of the year._

"_Wait, what are the other two subjects?" Sirius asked._

_Lily rolled her eyes, "Black, it's your head, shouldn't you know better then anyone what you think about."_

"_Yes but I-I just want to make sure that everyone's got it right." He muttered unconvincingly._

"_Food and pranks," Lily, Mary, James, Remus, Nikki and even Peter, said at once._

"_Oh that reminds me," Sirius said looking to his fellow Marauders, "How is the preparations for the, uh, next prank going?" he glanced at the girls quickly, trying not to give anything away, before he looked at Peter._

"_G-good," he stuttered, acutely aware of everyone's attention on him—the Marauders calculatingly and the girls curiously—especially Georgia's. He blushed a delicate pink._

_Sirius nodded well, seriously, "And have you got…what you have to get?" he asked cryptically._

_The girls exchanged curious and confused looks as Peter blushed deeper, "Not yet. I tried last night but it was locked so I'm going t-tomorrow."_

_Sirius nodded again before looking at Remus who rolled his eyes, "Of course Padfoot. I came up with this one, remember? It's all under control."_

_This new bit of information only increased the girls' interest. "You came up with it?" Georgia asked him, leaning closer and batting her eyelashes a little, "Will you tell me what it is?"_

_He grinned widely, "Tempting, but nope. You'll just have to wait and see." She pouted at him, but when he kissed her lightly she was slightly mollified._

_Sirius made an exaggerated 'awww' face at the couple before turning to James and raising his eyebrow. "Yes my part is done. Finished last night. I had to go out on two nights because it was a _lot _of dirt to carry." James sent an accusatory look at Remus, "This better be worth it, Moony."_

_Remus opened his mouth to reassure his friend but was cut off by Lily's gasp. "Dirt? What the hell are you planning to do?"_

"_I didn't say dirt…" James tried to cover quickly, "I said…um fairy dust."_

_Sirius slapped his forehead at James's lame excuse, Mary snorted in amusement and Lily rolled her eyes._

"_You expect us to believe that you went out Merlin knows where on two nights to get _fairy dust _for a prank?" Nikki said giving him an amused look._

"_Yes?"_

"_James, for the son of two Aurors you would have thought you would be a bit more sneaky." Georgia laughed._

_He smirked, "Well, for the daughter of two Ministry Officials I would have thought you would have more appreciation for rules, and yet you and Rem skip dinner every second night to make out in a broom closet."_

_She blushed deeply and glared at him while Remus just laughed, squeezing her comfortingly. "Don't take any notice of him, Georgia. He's just jealous he doesn't have anyone to break the rules with."_

"_But Moony, I'll always have you." James batted his eyes at him exaggeratedly._

_Everyone laughed as Remus made a disgusted face, but he looked at Georgia as he spoke. "No thanks mate, I'm already spoken for." _

_Sirius ruined the cute moment by saying, "How are you're parents, Gee? You going home for the holidays?"_

_She frowned, "I don't think so. They're having a bit of trouble with some peop—things at work so I think it's best not to bother them."_

_Remus frowned but didn't say anything but her cover-up. He didn't want to seem nosy or overbearing but he was worried about her. For a few weeks now she had been cutting into their time at the library to go up the Owlery and he could only guess that there was something wrong with her parents or their work. _

"_That's good," Sirius grinned, oblivious as always, "You can stay here with us, we're all staying. And I know Moony would appreciate the company." He winked. _

_Georgia looked at Remus and said quietly, "That was the plan."_

_A few nights later, Remus wandered out of his dormitory with a book and started down the stairs. It was a two days before the full moon and he always had trouble sleeping as it got closer to the time. He stopped for a moment just before he turned the corner into the Common Room because he thought he heard a familiar voice._

_After waiting for a moment, he heard it again._

"_No, I'm not coming home!" Georgia was whisper-yelling, "You and Dad are being insane and I don't want any part of it. I can't believe you're actually considering what they're offering."_

_Another voice answered her, but it was low and Remus couldn't make out what they were saying. He had managed to deduce that Georgia must be speaking to her mother in the fire when she spoke again._

"_That's not an excuse. You can get protection anywhere. I bet Dumbledore could give us the best protection in the world. That's not an excuse to completely ruin your life."_

_The quiet voice murmured something but it was cut off by Georgia almost shrieking, "Well you're ruining mine! I'm so happy here, Mum. I finally have friends and a boyfriend…yes I have a boyfriend and he's wonderful. But I can tell that he's getting suspicious. I keep running off to the Owlery to talk to you and I can't keep doing that to him. It's not fair."_

_The other voice answered again, but Remus had given up trying to reason what I was saying. He was starting to feel guilty that he was still listening to an obviously private conversation. Georgia was thinking about his feelings, but he wasn't thinking about hers. _

_As he turned to head back up the stairs and give Georgia her privacy he heard her say, "Of course I can't tell him the truth, Mum. He wouldn't understand. _I _don't even understand! Telling him would be the worst thing I could do."_

_He sighed and stepped into his dormitory. He lay in bed for hours, repeating the half conversation over and over in his head. What couldn't she tell him? How bad could it possibly be?_

_For someone who almost always had the answers, he was coming up completely blank. Frustrated and confused, sleep was sweet relief when it took him as the sun started to rise._

"That was the beginning of the end." I said, swallowing down the sadness. "Things only went downhill from there. She started acting strangely around me, afraid to touch me, she made up excuses not to hang out…she completely changed."

Nikki nodded, "She was weird around us, too. We had no idea what had happened because obviously we hadn't heard what Remus had. She had been fine the night before so how she acted the next morning was a complete turn-around."

"She basically became a recluse." Lily sighed, "She still ate with us and sat with us in lessons but she barely said anything."

"And you never found out what that conversation was about?" Tonks asked her husband, who sighed heavily and shook his head.

"No, but it became clear about a week later." He said, bowing his head.

_"LILY! MARY!"_

_The girls looked up from their text book to see Georgia come running out of the doors and down the hill. The girls were sitting under the huge beech tree by the Black Lake, going over their Potions homework. Mary was terrible at the subject but Lily had a talent for it and was Professor Slughorn's favourite student, along with Sirius and James (their humour and charms had won him over as much as their family names had)._

"_You know, I think that's the biggest thing Georgia's said to us in weeks," Lily mused as she watched the brunette come speeding around the Lake towards them._

_Mary nodded, "Something really must be eating away at her. Yesterday Remus came into the Common Room looking really sad, and when I asked him what was wrong, he just said that Georgia had to go to the Owlery. I think that's like the twentieth time she's been there this week. There has to be something wrong. Her parents, maybe?"_

"_I don't know," Lily shrugged, "But there's definitely something up now." She waved as Georgia slowed to a walk as she got closer. When Georgia didn't wave back, but look down at the grass as she walked, the Lily and Mary exchanged a worried glance._

"_Georgia, what's wrong?" Mary asked immediately, as soon as her friend was within hearing range. As Georgia got closer, Mary realised her suspicions were confirmed. Something was definitely eating away at her. Her complexion was pale and pallid, her once shining hair greasy and her gorgeous smile was replaced with something closer to a grimace._

_Instead of answering Mary's question, Georgia just shook her head. When she raised her face to look at Lily and Mary, the girls were shocked to see tears glistening in Georgia's eyes._

_Immediately, they jumped up and moved to comfort her but she stepped back. "Please," she murmured, "Please don't make this harder then it has to be. I don't think I could handle it if you come any closer." She looked down, at the neatly addressed letter in her hand to avoid seeing Lily and Mary's hurt expressions._

"_Can you give this to Remus? Please? He is the last person I would be able to face right now. I don't think I could do it if I had to talk to him, explain things." Her voice broke and she shook her head, trying to reign the emotions in. She swallowed and quickly wiped at her eyes before she looked up, "Please just give it to him. And try not to be too mad at me. It's for your own good, and this is really not how I wanted to go."_

"_Go?" Lily and Mary echoed._

"_You're leaving?" Lily gasped and Georgia nodded quickly. "For good?"_

_She nodded again, "I'm not coming back. It would be too dangerous." Then she covered her mouth like she'd said too much. She pushed the letter into Mary's hands. "Please just give that to him, and tell him I'm so, so sorry. Bye." Then she turned and ran as fast as she could towards the gates, where a carriage was waiting. She didn't stop, she didn't look back. If she did, she knew that she would want to run back to the girls who had been the best friends she had ever had and beg them to make her stay, to make her safe, to make her forget. But she knew she couldn't do that. Not if she wanted to keep _them _safe. She had to go—she had to run._

_Lily and Mary stood on the spot, shocked into silence. Then they turned to each other with tears in their eyes. They had only spent half a year with her, but the girls already felt like they had a sister—and her manner of leaving, without a hug or an explanation had left them confused and hurt._

"_Remus?" Mary could only whisper the question that was full of meaning._

_Lily nodded and together to two girls headed back to the castle, with only a small inclination of the pain and questions that Georgia had left behind her._

"And so she left." Lily said, her voice low and solemn.

I could see Dora looking at everyone, her eyes bouncing from Nikki to Lily to James to Sirius and finally to me. I could see their expressions and I could feel mine. We all had our heads bowed and sadness written across our faces. She looked confused, like she was missing out on the end of the story. She didn't understand. That _was _the end.

After a moment she looked at me, "What was on the letter?"

I sighed, realising a huge breath. I wasn't feeling completely heart-broken or shocked anymore. It was almost like the telling of the story had cleansed me of my negative feelings. It had reminded me of how fun and sweet Georgia was, and how much fun we had had together. Before, her manner of leaving had only left me upset and had tinted all the memories with sadness. But now, all I could really only now think of was that Georgia had changed me—made me more wary of people, of getting hurt, but also more spontaneous and fun. It made me realise that things could change in a matter of minutes and that you had to make the best of it.

Of course, that outlook changed again after James and Lily were killed and Sirius was carted off to Azkaban—everything seemed all very sad then. But if none of that had happened, then I wouldn't have met Dora and I wouldn't have ended up the person I now was.

The realisation that Dora was still waiting for my answer pulled me out of my thoughts. "I don't remember the exact details. I burnt it after I had memorised it." I grimaced as guilt washed through me, "But my memory has faded over time. It basically said that she had to leave because of her parents, but didn't give an explanation as to why and what they had done. It said that she was so happy that year and that she would miss me terribly. But it also said that I couldn't go looking for her and she couldn't come back to me—all for our own safety."

Lily smiled ironically, "A letter of contradictions."

I nodded, "It made me really angry at the time. All I wanted to do was find her and tell her that she couldn't just leave me like that and that she owed me an explanation. But then I remembered the conversation I had heard of her with her Mum in the Common Room and I realised that she couldn't give me the answers. Eventually I made my peace that I would never know."

Then a voice echoed loudly around the room. Everyone had been so caught up in the story and my explanation that they hadn't even heard her come in.

"You heard me that night?"

I turned in shock to find Georgia standing in the living room doorway staring right at me.

* * *

**DUN DUN DUN DUUUNNN... before you ask, I doubt I will write a second chapter continuing this. But, I do have an idea of what happens next and exactly why she had to leave etc. so if you ask very nicely I might give you the back story :)**

**Reviews make me happy.**


	10. The New Recruit

**Yes, I suck at updating. I know. Honestly, I haven't had much time to write for fun at the moment which is very sad. **

**This chapter was written for my sister, Lauren as a birthday present. She's happy with it and her opinion is really the only one that matters. Kidding. I want to hear everything you guys think. So get reading!**

**DISCLAIMER: HP belongs to JK**

* * *

"Why are we here again, Harry?"

"I told you already."

"Um, no I don't think you did. All you said was that you were bored. That's hardly a reason to just come knocking on someone's door without giving them any notice or anything. What if they're busy?"

"Ginny, I doubt they're busy. They're always home. Maybe Sirius is there. He would know of something fun and interesting to do."

"Honestly, you're so like a little boy sometimes. Why don't we just go out for lunch or read _The Daily_ _Prophet _together or something?"

Harry scoffed, "read _The_ _Prophet _together? You have been spending way to much time with Hermione, my dear."

Harry and Ginny were standing out the front of Lily and James Potter's house. The front door was still firmly shut no matter how many times Harry had attempted to open it before being dragged back by his frustrated wife. The Potter's door was always unlocked – no one really locked their doors in Above anyway since it was heaven, therefore no one really had the desire to ransack peoples houses. But there was almost no point to keep this one closed due to the tendency for all the Marauders and their families to come and go to each others houses as they pleased.

The second generation of Potters (Harry and Ginny) had been standing outside Lily and James's home for almost twenty minutes now and had yet to reach a decision. Harry was set on the idea of visiting his parents but Ginny, being the stubborn ex-Weasley she was, was still not sure about the idea. She thought that since Harry saw his parents almost everyday since their arrival in Above (it was either him going to their place or them going to his, but either way both parties were doing what they could to make up for all the time they had lost) there was really no need for him to go today.

Ginny rolled her eyes, "okay fine, so that was a silly idea. What about we go out on our brooms or something? As much as I love your parents, I don't really see why we have to interrupt their Thursday just because their poor son is bored. What if they are busy? What if they're doing it in the living room right now and we walk in on them." She grins at his gasp, knowing she's finally got his attention.

"Ugh," Harry shudders, "that's just wrong, Ginny. Wrong. I've barely known my parents for more then thirty years and you're putting that idea in my head. I take back what I said before – you haven't been spending too much time with Hermione. You've been spending too much time with Sirius."

"You rang?"

Harry and Ginny turned at the sound of the familiar, obnoxious voice, though they really didn't need to – it wasn't hard to figure out who it had come from. Harry laughed and walked forward to greet his godfather. Ginny, though still annoyed, couldn't help but smile at Sirius who, while animatedly whispering to Harry, was tugging Nikki by the hand as they walked toward Ginny.

Nikki gave Ginny a conspiratorial raised eyebrow, as if to say, _so you were dragged into this too? _Ginny nodded, pulling a weary face and then gave Harry and Sirius the finger behind their backs. Nikki laughed loudly, alerting Harry and Sirius who were still gossiping like old women.

"What's so funny?" Sirius demanded.

"Oh, nothing," Nikki snickered, twirling away from Sirius to stand by her new partner-in-crime. "Ginny here was just telling me about her wonderful day."

Harry frowned, "wonderful day? You were just complaining to the whole world a few minutes ago, Gin."

She laughed, "it's called sarcasm, you big dope. I was complaining to Nikki about being dragged along by you and your silly ideas." Harry opened his mouth again, but by now Ginny knew him so well that she could predict what he was going to say, "I was telling her _silently_. Contrary to popular belief, us women don't have to talk a lot to convey our thoughts."

Sirius and Harry both burst our laughing. After they managed to regain their composure, Sirius said, "Are you kidding me? You lot don't shut up. You would not be able to function without your words."

"As opposed to you and your complete silence?" Nikki scoffed.

There was a moment of quiet.

"This isn't about me!" Sirius stomped his foot, "I was merely commenting on your need to gossip continuously, don't swing it around on me, Nikki Williamson."

"Oh please," Nikki laughed, "you and Harry were standing over there whispering like high schoolers. Why so secretive boys?"

They both shrugged. "No reason," Harry grinned, "Sirius was just telling me how bored he was and wanted to do something fun."

Ginny barely refrained from rolling her eyes, "obviously great minds think alike."

Harry looked offended (he knew his godfathers intellectual track record) but Sirius grinned, "Exactly! I knew I liked you for a reason, Little Red."

Nikki was still snickering when Harry, obviously fed up with all the talk, said, "So what are we going to do, then? We've been standing out here for ages and we still haven't decided anything."

"I say we go in and see what Prongs and Lilyflower want to do." Sirius stated.

"Why can't you do anything by yourself, Sirius?" Nikki demanded, rounding on her boyfriend, "you're so bloody co-dependent."

Sirius smiled, "Thank you, dearest."

"That was an insult, you prat!"

"How was that insulting? James and I are best friends—"

"What about Remus? He's your best friend too but I don't see him coming to you everyday asking to do something interesting!"

"Moony has always been very weird," Sirius waved his hand dismissively.

"I think you're confusing weird with normal, _dearest_." Nikki growled through clenched teeth.

"You know, I really don't see the point in insulting me all the time—"

"You don't? Oh, I wonder why! If you didn't think so highly of yourself—"

"Well why shouldn't I? I'm totally awesome!"

"That's debatable."

"How dare you! After all these years you still don't believe I'm completely awesome?"

"No I do not. Someone's got to try and deflate your ego a little—"

"You don't have to make it your life mission to—"

"It's _not_ my life mission—"

Harry wandered over to Ginny as Nikki and Sirius continued to yell at each other for the whole world to hear. "Sometimes I don't see how they can even function together." He whispered.

Ginny smiled, "They're both just so stubborn and I think they kind of enjoy torturing each other. Besides, it's fun to watch."

Harry chuckled, "Oh I won't deny that. It sure is entertaining. It's a wonder they haven't gathered a crowd by now or something." As he said it, he scanned the street quickly. Sirius and Nikki were still yelling at each other, and as he watched, Harry could see some curtains move as people peeked out the window to see who was making all the racket.

"Merlin's beard, what are they fighting about now?"

Ginny and Harry turned to find Remus and Tonks strolling across the street, both with identical smirks on their faces as they watched their friends, who were now adding a physical component to their argument. The group laughed as Nikki began to hit Sirius on any part of his body she could reach, while simultaneously continuing her verbal attack. Sirius, for his part, was yelling his retorts while trying to push Nikki off him.

Remus and Harry snickered and Ginny and Tonks gasped as Sirius, obviously fed up with her beatings, suddenly flicked Nikki on the forehead and teased her about being 'high-maintenance'.

"Bad move," Tonks muttered to no one in particular just before Nikki sent a strong kick straight between Sirius's legs.

He let out a less then manly squeal that was so loud that the four spectators had to cover their ears and watch as he crumpled to his knees. Nikki flicked her hair and said loftily, "Serves you right."

"I have to say, it's a wonder he's still got anything at all, down there." Tonks managed through her laughs with her eyes on Sirius, who was groaning on the ground. "The amount of times she's kicked and kneed him there are too many for me to count."

"And you never witnessed the hundreds of times she did it at school." Remus said, "I've always wondered how he had the reputation he did after all the beatings he took from Nikki."

Just then, the door to the house that had, remarkably, been silent until now swung open.

"I would know that girlish noise any where." James said as he stepped on to the front step, Lily peering over his shoulder. "Who killed Sirius now?"

"That would be me." Nikki smirked, "you may never be able to play Quidditch with your best bud now James, sorry. I'm not sure he will be able to sit on a broom anymore."

James shrugged, not looking particularly bothered.

Sirius, wheezing slightly, managed to nod his head in agreement. "You won this one, Williamson." He rasped, "I'll get you next time."

Nikki just patted him on the head.

James then caught sight of Harry, Ginny, Remus and Tonks, who were all still standing on the sidelines, laughing behind their hands. He clicked his fingers at them, "Oi, witnesses!"

They turned to look at him, trying to smother their smiles.

"Lovely to see you too, Prongs." Remus rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah," James shrugged with an easy grin. "I'm assuming you lot have been out here the whole time, watching the man-vs.-the-bull," he grinned at Nikki who winked at him. "I would like a rundown if you please."

"It really isn't that complicated." Ginny shrugged.

"I rarely is where Sirius is concerned," Lily agreed.

"Hey!" Sirius protested, but it was barely above a whisper, and as usual, no one took any notice.

"Basically, Sirius and Harry were really bored and they wanted to come and visit you two," Ginny explained, "Because they assumed James would have something interesting to do."

"Naturally," James nodded, not turning around to see Lily roll her eyes.

Ginny grinned at her before continuing, "But Nikki and I thought that we could figure out something to do without disturbing you. That led to Sirius being offended that Nikki didn't appreciate his relationship with you, James, which made Nikki mad because she thought he was too obnoxious to do stuff by himself…and it all just snowballed from there."

Lily and James were both nodding, as if none of it was really news to them. And it wasn't. After having known both Sirius and Nikki for over one hundred years, they had seen them fight over big and small things alike. They had even once witnessed a highly amusing argument over the length of Dumbledore's beard during breakfast in their fifth year. (Sirius thought it was long enough for Dumbledore to play jump-rope with, and Nikki thought it was merely long enough for him to trip over if he wasn't careful.)

The dysfunctional couple, having obviously used up all their insults, had miraculously made up in the meantime. As Nikki gently helped her now physically and emotionally disabled boyfriend from the ground, Remus sighed, "Honestly, you two are worse then an old, bickering married couple. You've been through so much, and yet you continue to fight over the smallest of things."

"And they're not even married!" Harry pointed out.

Lily laughed, "I swear to Merlin, the day Sirius gets married is the day the world ends." She continued to giggle, obviously getting caught up in her own thoughts, "The day Sirius gets married, I will never insult anyone ever again."

There was a moment of stunned silence, before James and Sirius burst into raucous laughter, Remus chuckled in disbelief and Nikki rolled her eyes.

"Oh, Lily please. You couldn't go a day without teasing anyone for fun. Especially Sirius. You and I were cut from the same cloth."

Lily grinned at her friend. "Nikki, you have such little faith in me. I promise that if Sirius does get married in the distant, distant, distant, unforeseeable future, I will try for as long as possible to not insult anyone. Even if it is just harmless teasing."

Sirius smirked, and straightened up with a slight wince. "You sure about that, Evans?"

Lily rolled her eyes at the old school name but nodded, "yes, I'm sure, Sirius."

"Um, Lils? Honey?" James came up to her warily, putting his hand on her arm, "I wouldn't be so determined about this if I were you."

She scoffed, "And why not, James? Why should I not have some fun in gambling on Sirius's commitment issues?"

"Because he might not be kidding." Harry grinned, stealing the words right from his father's mouth, and pointing.

Everyone turned to see Sirius back on the ground on his knees. Everyone's first thought, naturally, was that he had yet again done something to irritate Nikki and she had once again kicked him in the 'nads. But it only took them a second to realise that this time, he was on the ground for a much more serious reason. Ginny and Tonks put their hands to their mouths as they dropped open, James and Harry grinned, Remus let out a surprised laugh and Lily gasped.

"No," she whispered to herself, "this can't be happening."

Nikki was the only one who seemed completely calm, ironically, since she was the one about to be proposed to. She was grinning wryly at Sirius, her hands on her hips.

"Nikola Williamson," he said, his solemn tone ruined by the cheeky grin on his face, "I really would like to prove Lilyflower wrong, and have her never insult me again. Will you marry me?"

There was a tense moment of silence before Nikki answered.

"That's your reason?" she said.

There was a beat, before Sirius, along with many others, said, "What?"

"That's your reason?" Nikki repeated, "you want to beat Lily at her silly bet?" She sighed, "Sirius, how many times have I told you to not propose for stupid reasons? You can't ask me to marry you because Lily made a bet with you, or because I complimented you on your hair, or because you were feeling super happy from a sugar high. And you certainly don't tell the girl these reasons as a preface to wanting to marry her."

"I thought all those were good reasons," Sirius said sullenly.

"What a minute," Tonks cut in, "He's proposed to you before?"

Sirius jumped up, not looking too cut up at Nikki's rejection. "Sure have," he grinned, throwing his arm around his almost-fiancée's shoulder. "She keeps rejecting me, heartless wench."

Nikki punched him on the arm but he didn't seem affected, just pulling her closer.

"Nikki!" Lily wailed, "why did you never tell me? I wouldn't have said such a stupid thing if I knew that it was actually possible that Sirius would want to marry you. No offence," she added hastily, at seeing Nikki's frown, "but you know Sirius. He's so…"

"Unreliable," Remus offered.

"Retarded," James added.

"Never serious," Harry said, nodding along.

"But I am Siri—" Sirius started to say before Nikki covered his mouth with her hand.

"Don't say it." She warned him. When she was satisfied he wasn't going to make his over-used joke she lowered her hand and said, "Yes, he is to all those things, sometimes. But most of the time, he's kind and funny and so…Sirius. You have to remember that I do love him, Lil, in spite of all those things. And we have been together for a very, very long time now. So really, I think he's pretty damn great."

Everyone smiled, it was rare that Nikki really spoke her true feelings.

"Not to mention, I'm great in bed!" Sirius added proudly, earning another punch on the arm from Nikki.

Remus shook his head, "Always ruining the moment."

After everyone's laughter had died out, Sirius turned to Nikki. "Look, Nik," he sighed, "truth is, I really do want to marry you. I love you. And I know that we've been together for a long time now anyway, but I really would like to marry you and you know, make it official. What do you say? Besides, I would really love to prove Lily wrong at _something_." He snickered as she stuck her tongue out at him.

The sweet smile that had been on Nikki's face was gone in an instant. "Oh my God!" she cried in exasperation, "I was just about to say yes, and you go and ruin it!"

There was silence again.

Sirius gaped at her. "You were going to say yes?"

"Of course I was, you douche. I would love to marry you. I have always wanted to. Since I was fifteen. I always thought it would be kinda fun," she shrugged.

"But – but…you always said no." he stuttered.

She laughed, "That was because you were either drunk, on a sugar high, motivated by a bet, or not thinking straight in general! Besides, I can't deny that I love to annoy you."

"Told you so," Ginny bragged to Harry quietly.

There was a moment of short silence, as everyone watched Nikki and Sirius look at each other carefully. Slowly Nikki smiled. "Sirius, I'm waiting for you, here. If you don't act soon, you may miss your chance forever."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Please, you couldn't live without me. And I know that eventually, if I just kept asking and asking, you would eventually give in. You're under my Spell." He waggled his eyebrows, and everyone groaned at the mention of his famously annoying Sirius Spell theory.

Nikki just put her hands on her hips and frowned at him, staring him down until he sighed and threw his arms up. "Alright! Let's try this again." He cleared his throat, and making an exaggeratedly serious face. "Nikki Williamson, the beat in my heart and the light in my life, the only joy I have in the world. I mean, apart from Prongs and Moony of course –"

"Sirius!"

"Kidding, kidding." He grinned, winking at Harry and Ginny who were laughing loudly, "In all Siriusness, will you marry me, Nik? Make me the happiest Padfoot alive?"

Nikki rolled her eyes and gave a weary sigh, but her annoyed façade was ruined by the smile that was threatening to break over her face. "Yeah, I guess so."

Everyone broke out in cheers and laughter and applause, as Sirius's face split into the most genuinely happy grin that anyone had ever seen. He picked up his new fiancée and swung her around as she laughed. Then, everyone converged on the happy couple, hounding them with congratulations and hugs and kisses and pats on the back.

James threw his arm around Remus's shoulders. "Moony, our Paddy's all grown up," he sniffed, pretending to wipe his eyes under his glasses, "Getting married and everything. Who would have thought? Sirius accepting responsibility."

Remus patted his friend on the back with a laugh, "I know, Prongs. I never thought this day would come. All he has to do now is learn how to talk like a normal human being without making obscene jokes and gestures and he will finally be a real boy."

"Hey!" Sirius yelled, having heard the end of their conversation. "I am a real boy…man. I'm a real man. I real manly man with a wife and everything."

"Not yet." Nikki pointed out, "We're not married yet, let's not get ahead of ourselves, Mr. Manly Man."

Lily laughed suddenly. "Thank Merlin. That means that I'm still able to insult you for a while. I only promised to stop once you got married," she smirked at Sirius, "so I'm still free to unleash my frustrations on my usual punching-bag. At least for a little while longer."

"What?" Sirius cried in outrage, "I thought that because I'm now getting married you can't be mean to me anymore?"

"Be mean to you?" Lily laughed, "Like other people were mean to you when you were a little girl, Siri?"

He nodded with a pout before what she said registered in his brain, "Wait! I mean no! I was never a little girl! I am a boy…man! And I will not tolerate this…oh whatever. I hate you all." Everyone around him was laughing themselves silly at his reaction and indignation that no one was paying attention to what he was saying.

"And I said that I would stop teasing you _when _you got married, Sirius." Lily managed to say through her laughs, "you have to get married first."

"Then I will," Sirius shrugged with a grin, "You're going down, Evans."

Then Nikki stepped in, "Hang on a minute. Sirius I just agreed to marry you but I can't do it straight away. Give a girl some time to process things. Besides, I can't just jump into this with you. I've got to mentally prepare myself for committing myself to you for the rest of my life. That's a pretty big step."

Ginny nodded, "I would need some time to come to terms with the fact that I was stuck with _Sirius _for the rest of my life as well if I were you, Nikki."

"Well, I think we should do it now!" Sirius cried, "The sooner the better, and then Lily can't tease me anymore and life will be good."

"Sirius, I still don't think—" Nikki tried to say.

"Do you not love me enough?" Sirius suddenly moaned, putting on his best puppy-dog face. "Is there something in the way? Is there some_one _in the way?" He gasped theatrically, his hands springing to his throat, "Is there someone else? Do they have better hair then me? How could you do this to me? TELL ME!"

Nikki rolled her eyes at him, now on his knees in front of her. "Stop it, Sirius, you're being ridiculous."

"You're right," he sprang up, looking as carefree and calm as ever. "No one could have better hair then me. That was ridiculous. But why wont you marry me today?"

"Because!" Nikki shouted, "There are so many reasons why getting married today is a stupid idea. It's too rushed, there's not enough time to plan a wedding, I'm not at all prepared, nor are you, we don't know who we're going to invite, we haven't got—"

Suddenly, a completely new but not entirely unwelcome voice broke through Nikki's rant.

"Mum? Dad?"

Harry and Ginny, being the only one's who recognized the voice, turned around instantly, only to be greeted by a face they had been longing to see for decades. They stood dumbfounded for a moment while the speaker grinned.

"Fancy seeing you here."

A sob broke free from Ginny's lips and she ran forward to greet her son, Harry only a few steps behind her. As soon as she reached him, she threw her arms around him, sobbing his name into his shoulder for several minutes. Harry, also wanted to hug James properly, but Ginny wouldn't let go, so he had to settle for hugging him around Ginny, making a sort of Ginny sandwich.

James hugged his parents for a while longer, loving that fact that he was able to see and feel them once again after such a long time. He laughed lightly as Ginny clutched at him so tightly it was hard to breathe. "Miss me a little, Mum?" he managed to get out.

"Shut up." She murmured into his shirt, "Of course I've missed you. I love you so much Jamie."

"We are overjoyed to see you, son," Harry smiled brightly, tears glistening in his green eyes, "We did miss you terribly."

"It's good to be here," James said, looking around, having finally unwrapped Ginny from around him. "Although it is really strange. Not at all what I expected, but I don't really know what I expected."

Harry nodded, "It can be a bit of a shock and takes a while to get used you. It's a lot to take in. Especially when you meet the rest of the family." He winked.

James grinned, immediately knowing what his father was referencing. He noticed it almost as soon as he saw Harry. There was a sparkle in his eyes as he that James didn't recognize, but he was definitely not opposed to seeing it there. He was full of joy to see his father finally reunited with the family he always missed. And now James was going to meet them as well. Finally.

Ginny led him over the group of friends that were standing off to the side, waiting for the family to reunite and dry their tears. "James, I'm sure you recognize these people. They're very important to your father. And we love them very much, except that person in the middle," she gestured casually to Sirius who pouted.

"You love me, Ginny, there's no point in denying it!" Sirius pronounced, walking forward to throw his arm around her, "I'm just too adorable to not love."

She shrugged, "Meh, I merely put up with you." But her wink made him laugh.

"Well, you better get used to putting up with me a little while longer," he chuckled moving around her to look at James carefully. "Hmm," he murmured, studying him. "Say, newcomer. Do you know who I am?"

"I think I have a fair idea." James grinned, knowing already that he was going to like this ridiculous person.

Sirius scoffed, "A little more enthusiasm, please. You are in the presence of royalty here."

James looked around quickly, "Really, where?"

Everyone laughed, even Sirius joined in after a moment, his wounded pride quickly rebounding, as it always did. "I like this kid," he said to Harry and Ginny, who were grinning proudly. "So, son of Harry and Ginny, I hear you have a pretty awesome name."

"What, James? Yeah, I like to think it's pretty awesome."

"You bet it is!" James cheered.

"No one asked you, Prongs." Sirius yelled back over his shoulder before turning back to James (the young one). "No, I meant your other name."

"Potter? It is fairly well known as a very awesome name." James laughed as Harry patted him on the back happily.

Sirius stamped his foot in annoyance. "I meant the Sirius part! Be careful, kid, or you will have to deal with the wrath of Sirius Black."

Although he was completely…well, serious, and intending to be very threatening, everyone around him began to snort in laughter. He looked around, glaring at everyone who was doubled over in giggles. "You guys are mean. I have a very dangerous wrath."

That just made everyone laugh more.

"Oh God, Sirius stop it." Lily managed to gasp out, clutching her stomach, "I can't take any more."

Ginny was holding herself up by clutching at her son's shoulder. After a while, she contained her laughs with great difficulty. "Sirius, let me tell you something about my son. He's not stupid, and he's certainly not going to fall for your crap."

"Please, according to you two, he was quite the prankster at Hogwarts." Sirius shook his head, "not as good as the Marauders, of course, but fairly good. So he must have some level of stupidity to think he could get away with those pranks."

"Excuse me," James said, miffed, "I will have you know that I have always been very clever with my pranks. Only a few of them were ever pinned on me and was often praised for my creativity."

Harry and Ginny frowned at him disapprovingly. "Fine," he sighed, "I wasn't always _praised_ by everyone. Mostly by the Gryffindors. The Slytherins didn't like me very much." Sirius, James and Remus grinned, seeing a kindred spirit in the new arrival. "Oh, and McGonagall wasn't very happy when I dyed her nails and glasses fluoro pink, but they changed back eventually." He shrugged with a sheepish grin.

Ginny sighed wearily, remembering McGongall's angry letters that were sent home. Harry shook his head, but his soft chuckles gave him away. Ginny hit him on the arm.

Sirius laughed, "You know, what? You're alright, kid. Welcome to the club. Anyone who can prank my Minnie and get away with it is alright in my books."

"Actually, Sirius, he didn't really get away with it," Ginny corrected him, hurrying to catch up with them as Sirius pulled James towards the others, "he got detention for a whole term and was banned from Quidditch for a few games."

"Meh," Sirius shrugged, "If she didn't kill him, he survived. Do you not know Minnie?"

"Siri, I don't think anyone knows Minnie the way you think you know her. It's a little creepy. Or a lot creepy." Nikki laughed, hitting him on the head as she walked up to smile at James. "Hi, I'm Nikki. You probably don't know me, but I have been Lily's best friend since first year at Hogwarts, and I just got engaged this oaf approximately twenty minutes ago."

James smiled and warmly accepted her gentle hug. Any friend of his parents and grandparents was a friend of his, and Nikki's easy, joking nature immediately made him comfortable.

"That's right, you just interrupted her wedding rant!" Sirius said, "Such a shame." He added for Nikki's benefit before leaning in and whispering, "Thank you," fervently in James's ear. He then leaned back and spoke casually again, "Although you will be invited to the party that we will have later to celebrate. Minnie will be there, and I'm sure you'd love to see her." He laughed at James's grimace. "Don't worry, she must like you if she only gave you a few detentions for pranking her. You should have counted yourself very lucky."

"I was," James laughed, now clutched uncomfortably under Sirius's arm, "I thought it was going to be a lot worse. Especially after she sat me down in her office and forced me to eat about ten Ginger Newts."

"Ah, the Ginger Newts," Sirius sighed reminiscently, "deadly, deadly stuff."

"Says the idiot who actually looked forward to eating them every time he had to go to Minnie's office." Remus laughed, shaking James's hand. "I'm Remus Lupin, by the way."

James grinned, delighted, "I figured. Teddy's told me so much about you. And Mum and Dad of course," he added hastily when Ginny coughed loudly. "Is he here?"

"Of course he is!" Tonks chimed in, "We're just overjoyed to have our darling son back. I'm Nymphadora but please call me Tonks."

James smiled and agreed, hugging her back. It was amazing how he was finally meeting the people that his parents always talked about – the ones who obviously had such a huge influence on Harry and Ginny's lives, and by extension, his own. Everyone was so different to how he imagined them and from what he saw in photos, and yet, they were exactly the same. Sirius looked a great deal younger then James had ever seen in photos, as did Remus but that was to be expected. James suspected that he himself was now younger. He didn't feel like an old man, at least.

But there were two more people he just knew he had to meet, and he also knew they were being kept to last for a reason. Maybe they were just shy, but he doubted that.

He was right.

Just as Sirius was starting to tell his new friend all about the workings of Above and who he should go and visit _immediately_ – Minnie, Dumbledore (who James had never officially met but he had often had very entertaining conversations with the old headmasters portrait while in Headmistress McGonagall's office for his many wrong-doings), the Weasley's and many more – James called out, "Padfoot, would you shut up? I want to meet my grandson."

"Wow, that sounds weird," Lily gasped, clutching on her husband's arm as they walked towards James (Jr). "You're a granddad. I'm a grandma. That's just strange and wonderful on so many different levels." She grinned at James widely, catching his eye, "mainly wonderful of course."

When she got close enough to touch him she stopped abruptly. "Oh," she gasped, staring at him in a way that made him slightly uncomfortable but also very happy at the same time. "James," she said, turning to her husband, "He looks just like you."

"I know," he grinned, "Very handsome. Missing the glasses though," he shook his head, "The glasses are a vital part of the Potter look, you know."

"Be quiet." Lily scolded before wrapping the new James up in a tight hug. "It's just absolutely fabulous to meet you, James. We have been dying to see you ever since we heard you were born. I still can't believe my son has a son. I'm too young to be a grandma," she moaned.

Her husband laughed as he took his turn hugging his grandson. "Lils, you're eternally young. If we hadn't died, you would have turned old and wrinkly and frail. Aren't you glad you remained young and hot forever?"

Lily glared at him, "Are you saying you wouldn't love me if I was old and wrinkly? Is that what you're getting at?"

"No!" James said hurriedly before sighing and turning to James Jr, "Honestly, she twists my words like there's no tomorrow. You should have seen us at school – we were always in shouting matches because she would twist my words just to pick a fight with me. Our fights were legendary."

"Yeah, legendarily annoying." Nikki teased, "You could hear them yelling from the other side of school. Everyone was so used to it by sixth year that it was just like 'oh, Lily and James are fighting again. I wonder what it's about this time'."

"Really, she was just fighting with me because she didn't want to admit how much she loooved me." James smirked at his wife who glowered at him.

"That is not true! I really didn't like you for a long time, James. You were an arrogant, bullying toerag. Only once you managed to shrink you ego slightly and treat others as equals did – "

"You finally see how astonishingly handsome I was, how clever I could be, how genius my pranks were and how remarkably funny I was. And you couldn't help but fall in love with me." James finished for her, making everyone laugh.

James Jr chuckled, "I had a very similar situation with me and my wife, Lauren. We used to argue all the time at Hogwarts. She was in Slytherin, you see, so obviously she hated it when I pranked the Slytherins – "

"You married a _Slytherin_?" Sirius blurted with shock, before turning to Harry and Ginny accusingly. "You let your son marry the enemy?"

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Sirius don't be stupid."

"He can't help it, it's his naturally brain functioning—_ow!"_ James winced as Sirius smacked him on the arm.

"She's actually a lovely girl," Harry grinned at Sirius's disbelieving look, "Nikki kinda reminds me of her actually."

"Well then she must be beyond awesome," Nikki smiled, "I approve."

Sirius gaped at his fiancée, "But…but she's a _Slytherin_." When Nikki remained unmoved, he turned to his friends, "Moony, do you hear this? Prongs, how could you let your grandson marry a Slytherin?"

Remus laughed, "It doesn't bother me one bit. If Harry and Ginny liked her and she made their son happy, then who cares what house she was in."

James Jr grinned, "You sound just like Teddy. Well, I guess Teddy sounds like you. Either way, I like you Remus."

Sirius stared in wonder as Remus patted James Jr on the back before staring beseechingly at James, "Prongs?"

"I don't think I have enough information to make a proper judgement on my granddaughter-in-law." James murmured, rubbing his chin, "Continue with your story, newbie and I shall decide."

James Jr laughed lightly before saying, "Well, in Sirius's defence, I didn't like her at all at first, mainly because she was a Slytherin, and I'm a Gryffindor and we're _meant _to hate each other. Also, she was on the Slytherin Quidditch team as Chaser, like I was on the Gryffindor side so we were always playing against each other on the field. Besides that she liked pranking the Gryffindors and I certainly didn't appreciate it when she put Purple Itching Powder in my bed in fourth year."

"She plays Quidditch in the best position, and she's a prankster," James nodded, grinning slightly, "I like this girl so far."

Sirius grumbled to himself under his breath.

Meanwhile, Lily asked, "_Purple_ Itching Powder?"

"Yeah, not only does it itch like mad but dyes your skin purple," James Jr laughed, now able to look back on that event as funny. At the time, however, he was feeling the opposite of humorous. "So everyone in my dorms walked around like purple splotchy giraffes for about three days. It was beyond annoying."

Everyone laughed quietly, and even Sirius cracked a smile.

"So how did you end up getting together with this girl if you disliked each other so much?" Tonks asked.

"Looking back on it, I don't think we ever really hated each other," James Jr mused, "We probably secretly liked each other all along but it was in our nature to be enemies," he glanced at Sirius, who nodded.

"Did she wear you down with her humour and brilliance," Nikki suggested, a wink in her voice.

James Jr laughed, "Quite the opposite – it all happened very suddenly. I was out late one night, sneaking down to the Slytherin Common Rooms with a bunch of things to prank them with and she was going up to the Gryffindor Common Rooms, ready to prank us. We ended up running into each other in one of the corridors, which resulted in one of our many arguments. But, while we were shouting, we heard a Prefect or teacher, I never knew which, coming down the hall so we had to work together to find a good hiding spot." He shrugged, "once we'd figured out how well we worked together, it all just went from there."

Nikki, Tonks and Lily were grinning widely, "That's a fun story," Tonks sighed while the girls nodded, "I like her."

"Me too," added James.

"Prongs!" Sirius protested.

"Padfoot, lighten up. She sounds like a fun girl. You're just prejudiced because of your family's association with Slytherin. But not all of them are bad. Regulus was a Slytherin and he didn't turn out to be bad, did he?"

Sirius glared at his friend, annoyed he had found a loophole in his thoughts. "I guess not," he grumbled, not able to say anything bad about his brother. "At least tell me what prank she was going to pull when you caught her." He pleaded to James Jr.

He grinned widely, "It was actually pretty awesome. We ended up pulling it together on the Ravenclaws. When I caught her she had a bag of ice with her, and claimed she was going to fill the Gryffindor Common Room with it."

Sirius snorted, "That's not very entertaining."

"I know," James Jr laughed, "What I found out later was the she had learnt a spell that covered everything in the room with a thick layer of ice so that everyone would be slipping and sliding around with nothing to hold on to. Even the door was slippery, so they couldn't get out very easily. The ice was just for decoration."

For a moment, Sirius seemed to be trying to contain his smile but he couldn't quite do it. "You know what? That sounds awesome. I approve of…"

"Lauren." James Jr laughed, filling in the name Sirius had almost instantly forgotten.

"That's what I was going to say." He shrugged.

"Imagine our surprise," Harry said, "when we got a letter from James telling us about the awesome yet 'harmless'" he raised an eyebrow at his son, "prank he pulled with Lauren – the girl he had claimed to hate for so many previous letters."

Ginny shook her head, remembering, "Only a few days later we got a letter from McGonagall, ranting about James and Lauren's infuriating prank."

"And the world returned to normal." James Jr laughed, before he gave a sad sigh. "I miss Lauren."

Harry put his hand on James Jr's shoulder, "Don't worry, James, you will see her very soon, I promise."

"You should even count yourself lucky, mate," James winked, "take if from me – being stuck up here for eternity with your wife is not the easiest life, trust me."

Lily rolled her eyes, "James, shut up. This lovely young man has just got here and already you're giving him the completely wrong idea." She smiled at James Jr, "don't listen to a word he says, dear. He's a bit crazy." She emphasised her point by making motions on the side of her head.

Her husband laughed and grabbed her around the waist, ignoring her squeals and pulled her away from her grandson. After he deposited her behind him, he turned back to James Jr and looked him in the eyes seriously. "Now son, on a more serious note, you have inherited a very manly name with a great reputation and personally, I think it was rather mean of Harry and Ginny to give you my name since they automatically placed a lot of things on your head for you to live up to." He grinned cheekily at them when Ginny huffed and Harry rolled his eyes.

"I think I have done pretty well," James Jr smirked, "I think the next person to be named James will have an even greater reputation to live up to."

Sirius whistled, "That's a mighty statement here, newbie. You may have to prove that."

"How?" the newbie asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I'm going to need to see a list of the pranks you've pulled, in detail." James said, listing off his fingers, "The ratio of Quidditch games won to the ones you lost, your injuries, the number of detentions you've had (with or without Minnie), how many—"

"Giving your grandson homework already, James?" Another new voice called out and everyone turned to look at the two newcomers.

Sirius laughed, "Who invited you, Weasleys?"

Ron shook his head, "We don't need an invitation to see our nephew, Black."

James Jr grinned, delighted to see Ron and Hermione again and ran off to greet them immediately. Harry and Ginny looked on happily as their best friends caught up with James. As they watched, James and Lily walked up to them.

"I think I love my grandson," James chuckled.

Lily sighed, "James you shouldn't have needed to meet him before you decided to love him. He's your own flesh and blood."

"Yes," James agreed patiently, "and really, I would have loved him if he had red eyes and pink hair but he's pretty awesome so I know I will appreciate him that much more."

Harry and Ginny laughed as Lily rolled her eyes at her husbands antics, before Tonks demanded, "What have you got against pink hair, James?"

"Nothing at all," he assured her, ruffling her hair with his hand casually, "I was just saying how much I love it."

"Sure sure," she said disbelievingly, trying in vain to smooth out her hair.

Remus smiled gently at Harry and Ginny, "James is great. He's almost a total combination of the two of you. He's going to have a ball up here, especially with the Marauders by his side." He laughed and high-fived James and Sirius.

"Well, it means the world to us that you appreciate him as much as we do," Ginny said, her eyes still on her son who was now animatedly describing something to Hermione while Ron laughed. "We think he's pretty great."

"I'm still not sure about him." Sirius said as he and Nikki joined the conversation. Nikki elbowed him in the gut sharply. "I mean, he's alright."

"Well, I think you might change your mind about that," Remus smirked as James Jr walked up with Ron and Hermione, having finally caught up properly.

"What are you all whispering about over here?" Hermione asked suspiciously. She and Ron had been in Above long enough to know that if any whispering was going on between the Marauders and Co, it meant trouble.

"Nothing really," James shrugged.

"We were just wondering if James might want to join us on a bit of a prank?" Remus said casually, turning to James Jr, whose face lit up. Even though he lived long after they were all gone, James had still heard all about the infamous Marauder pranks, at Hogwarts and also from Harry. Ever since he was a little kid he had been dying to join forces with them and now, now he finally had the chance.

"A prank? HECK YEAH!" Sirius yelled, including a fist pump. It had been far too long for his liking since their last prank. (It had been three days).

Immediately, the Marauders grabbed James Jr and the five of them gathered in a huddle. A few words could be made out by the rest of the group watching them.

"Hot mud…custard…ice bucket…blender…ice cream…wood chipper…potions book…"

Nikki shook her head, "I don't want to know."

"Hey, you're going to marry him." Ginny pointed out with a cheeky grin, indicating to Sirius.

"Hope you know what you signed up for." Tonks added, laughing.

Nikki sighed heavily, ignoring the snickers from the group around her and the devious plotting from the Marauders and their newest recruit. "Here we go again."

* * *

**And there you have it. Happy birthday, sis! I hope you guys liked it and if you didn't well...you suck, but I would love to hear anything you have to say :)**

**Also, I will be free as a bird in a month or so to write, so I'm willing to take requests! The most popular suggestions just might get turned into words so think about it - who would you LOVE to see in Above? Let me know!**


	11. The Substitute

**So, my friend and fellow HP obsessive Lizzie had a birthday recently and I wrote this chapter as a present for her (and also as an excuse for me to write it all down) so happy b'day Lizzie. **

**PS: I hope you all enjoy the special name I've chucked in here. In honour of the wonderful actor himself and for a bit of fun :)**

* * *

"Ah Rosmerta, my darling! How are you this fine morning?" Sirius asked loudly as he walked into The Five Quaffles, essentially the Three Broomsticks of Above.

Madam Rosmerta turned from her reorganization of the shelves behind the bar to grin at him. "Sirius, just because I give you Firewhiskey every other day does not make me your 'darling'." She waved at the rest of the new entries who waved back in amusing synchronisation.

"You know, Sirius, if you keep addressing every women you know like that I may give up on you," Nikki warned, jabbing her finger in his chest as their group found a table.

He snorted, "Please, you couldn't live without me if you tried. You would miss me so! You would miss my fantastic jokes, and stunning good looks, and you would especially miss that thing I do that you love. You know, the one where I—"

"For the love of Merlin, Padfoot shut your trap!" James snapped, slapping him over the head while everyone else covered their ears, now completely scarred.

"What?" Sirius looked around innocently.

"It is far too early in the day to hear about…that." Lily grimaced, "although time of day has never stopped you before."

"Nothing has ever stopped Sirius Black from saying or doing what he wants!" Sirius announced banging his fist loudly on the table and making everyone in a two-table radius around them turn around.

"Well that is certainly true," Remus muttered, smiling slightly. "No matter how we used to try to stop you from doing stupid and/or dangerous things at school you somehow managed to get it done anyway."

Sirius grinned proudly, "and that's why I'm such awesome company!"

Lily rolled her eyes, "No, it's why people can only handle you in small doses. Speaking of, it is my day off Sirius-duty tomorrow, since its Dora's today. So I expect not to be disturbed as I will be doing something very important."

"Your going to go to the library and read as many books as you can, aren't you?" James smiled affectionately.

"Yes, and I'm so excited!" Lily cried with a big grin, bouncing on her chair and making everyone laugh.

"What's Tonks doing today?" Nikki asked Remus.

He shrugged, "She's probably hanging out with her dad, or Moody. She hasn't seen either of them in a while."

"That's nice," Lily smiled, "It has been very busy around here since Sirius has been so hyper and restless."

"Well that is really no-ones fault but your own, Lil." James sighed, "I told you he would be a handful if you didn't let him run around outside the other day, but what did you do? You kept him inside the house with nothing to do but tear up the cushions."

Lily shook her head, "But James, you know how Sirius is when he's let loose. He would just bolt and we would never know where he's gone—"

Just as she said it, Sirius gave a huge gasp and bolted from his seat without a word, leaving everyone confused and annoyed.

"See." Lily muttered.

"Where's he gone?" Nikki sighed in exasperation, unable to see her hyper boyfriend in the crowded room. Luckily, Sirius was not only fast but also loud, and the group was able to track his voice to a back table, half hidden in the corner of the bar.

"It's Minnie! Minnie, Minnie, Minnie, oh I missed my Minnie!" He was crying with glee, jumping from one foot to the other in front of the embarrassed transfiguration teacher.

"Shut up Black!" McGonagall was snapping just as the rest of the group wandered over. "And how many times do I have to tell you that I am not 'your' Minnie."

Sirius grinned, "At least once more, my Minnie. What are you doing here, may I ask?"

"No you may not ask." McGonagall retorted just as she saw her audience. "Oh good, the cavalry is here. Just pick him and be on your way, will you?" she gestured vaguely to Sirius.

"Well, its lovely to see you too, Minnie," James pouted.

McGonagall rolled her eyes, "I'm sorry Potter, but I'm a little busy at the moment."

"With who?" Sirius demanded, looking around before finally seeing the other person sitting at the table, across from McGonagall. His eyes narrowed as he took in the other women. "I know you from somewhere…" he muttered.

"Sirius, if this is another woman that you claim got with you while under the 'Sirius Spell' I may beat you to a pulp," Nikki crossed her arms and glared at him menacingly.

"No, that's not it!" Sirius defended himself, "Its something else."

The woman, who had maintained a silent and casual expression for this whole exchange finally smirked, "Black, if you really don't recognise me I will be quite disappointed in you."

Sirius still stared at her, uncomprehendingly but it became clear that the others had recognised her. James and Remus laughed while Lily and Nikki smiled.

"It's wonderful to see you again Professor Radcliffe," Lily said, reaching forward to shake her hand, "Just ignore Sirius. You should know that he can be quite determined when he wants to be. He'll figure it out eventually."

"Yes I remember as much," Professor Radcliffe smiled, "It's lovely to see you again, Lily. And the rest of you, of course. I still remember those few weeks I knew you – not exactly all fond memories, but they certainly got stuck in my head."

James nodded, "The Marauders do that. We aren't easily forgotten."

"A strength and a weakness, I'm afraid." Remus mused, "not very useful when we were trying to get away with pranks."

"I remember that as well," Professor Radcliffe laughed, "When I refused to forget that one particular prank on the Slytherins involving attacking furniture you attempted to bribe me with all sorts of things to not turn you in."

James and Remus laughed loudly, remembering while Lily and Nikki sighed, not even wanting to know what they offered to poor professor. Sirius suddenly gasped loudly, pointing at Radcliffe.

"Professor Radcliffe!" The others rolled their eyes while he grinned, "I knew it! How are you dearest Lizzie? Remember that time you wanted to put me in detention for making the furniture in the Slytherin common room attack them and I offered you a ride on the Sirius Experience instead? Ah, good times." He smiled, reminiscing.

His trip down memory lane was interrupted by a sharp slap on the arm by Nikki, "Sirius!" She shouted, ignoring his girlish scream, "Did you seriously offer her… that?"

"Sure did," Sirius smirked, "She almost agreed, too."

Everyone turned to look at Radcliffe in surprise and she rolled her eyes, "I did not! I only didn't say anything for a moment because I thought he was joking."

"Sure, sure," Sirius grinned.

McGonagall made a point of turning her back to Sirius and said to Radcliffe, "Elizabeth, why don't we leave? We will find the others on the way out."

"Others? Who else are you with?" James asked curiously before spinning around quickly to survey the room, "Slughorns not here is he?"

Radcliffe snorted slighty, "No, Horace isn't with us, although I'm sure he would love to see you all," she chuckled as they all made a face, "We're here with our husbands."

McGonagall sent a pointed glare her friend's way just as James and Sirius yelled, "WHAT?"

"There's a _Mr_ _Minnie_?" Sirius yelled in excitement, "Where is he? Where?"

"How come you never told us you had a husband, Minnie?" James wailed, "How could you keep such a secret from us?"

Rolling her eyes, McGonagall said, "I never kept it a secret, James I just neglected to tell you – there's a difference. And I didn't tell you, because I was afraid this would happen." She motioned to Sirius in annoyance.

"Mr Minnie! Mr Minnie!" Sirius was now shouting out loudly, ignoring the irritated stares of the other patrons. He attempted to stand on a chair to get a better look around the room, but Lily pulled him down roughly. Turning back to McGonagall, he asked, "Why won't he answer me? Your husband is very rude."

"He's not rude!" McGonagall snapped before quieting her tone, "He just won't answer to 'Mr Minnie' because that's not his name!"

Sirius sighed, slumping back down on his chair. "What's his name then?"

McGonagall rolled her eyes, "I'm not telling you that, Black. You would have to be very stupid to even think I would tell you his name. Oh, sorry, for a moment I forgot who I was talking to." Sirius frowned and the others laughed while McGonagall continued. "Also, I warned him about you and your obsession with calling me 'Minnie' and he is on his guard to avoid you at all costs."

For a moment Sirius pouted but within a minute he was over it and turning to Radcliffe with a cheeky grin. "So, Lizzie_,_ what's _your_husband's name?"

Radcliffe's mouth turned down at the nickname, one she had not been called since she taught at Hogwarts all those years ago. Only one student had dared to call her Lizzie back then. Three guesses who. She glanced at McGonagall for a moment before looking back at Sirius. "Unlike my friend, I see know harm in telling you my husbands first name since you know mine. It's Daniel."

James snorted, muttering "Daniel Radcliffe. That is so a loser's name." Lily hit him on the arm and he backtracked, "I mean, it's the name of someone with great power and lots of money."

Not at all offended by James's words, Radcliffe smiled, "I always thought it was very much a famous person's name – it has lots of authority."

Sirius intervened then, obviously bored by this conversation, "Anyway Lizzie, how have you been since you were last in the presence of the Great Sirius Black?"

Employing her old tactics and ignoring Sirius completely, Radcliffe rose from her seat just as McGonagall did. "It was lovely to see you all," she smiled at the group, before looking back at Sirius, "Black, as wonderful as it was to be in your presence once again, do not pay me any unexpected visits, alright? However, I'm sure you would be welcome at Minnie's anytime you like." She winked before turning with a flourish and hooking arms with a dark-haired man on the way out.

McGonagall stood there gaping at her friends back for a moment, fuming that she had left her with the Marauders. She may as well have left her to be eaten alive by hungry hippogriffs. McGonagall turned slowly to be greeted with five laughing faces. "Don't you dare!" She began in her teacher voice, attempting to regain some dignity, "All of you, ignore Professor Radcliffe."

"But she's a teacher, Minnie," Nikki said cheekily, "You were the one who taught us to _never_disobey a teacher."

"Professor Radcliffe was merely a substitute, in _my _subject no less." McGonagall managed after a moment, "Therefore my word immediately trumps hers. If I see any of you in the near future I will not be held responsible for my actions." Then she turned and stomped off, disappearing through the crowd.

Sirius and James immediately jumped on chairs in order to try and see what Mr Minnie looked like as McGonagall joined him, but all they saw was the back of his head as the pair walked out.

"She just adores us," Remus snickered.

"I didn't get to see Mr Minnie!" Sirius moaned, stepping down from his chair, "I didn't get to interrogate him. No one will ever be good enough for my Minnie."

Nikki smiled, slipping her hand into his, "I'm sure he loves her very much, Siri. I bet their relationship is as good as ours."

Sirius snorted immediately, "Right." For his sarcastic tone he received a jab in the back of the knee from Nikki and collapsed to the floor with a little yelp.

Everyone but Sirius, who was still on the ground, sat down at the table that McGonagall and Radcliffe had just vacated. Lily smiled, "it was so nice to see Professor Radcliffe."

James laughed, "Lil, you think it's nice to see everyone."

"That's because it is! It makes me feel more normal, more _alive._ Sometimes I forget that I'm actually dead and seeing other people is comforting, I guess."

"Why would you need comfort from others?" James demanded, "You have me!"

Lily laughed loudly, "Oh yes, because you're a great comfort, Mr being-dead-is-awesome-coz-then-I-can-do-pranks-whenever-I-want-without-any-consequences."

"That's a really long name, Lilyflower," James said with a wink, "I prefer to be called Mr Potter."

"Smartass." Lily muttered, but everyone could see her lips twitching, fighting her smile.

"Well I think it was fun to see Professor Radcliffe again," Nikki grinned, "Remember when she taught us?"

"_POTTER!"_

_Lily Evans stormed into the Transfiguration classroom, Nikki and Mary hot on her heels. The Marauders, all causally lounging by Remus's desk – and unusually early to class – looked up in surprise at Lily's angry scream._

_Sirius grinned at James, "Good luck, Prongs. If you don't survive this, can I have all your money? Oh, and your new broom."_

"_You say that every time Evans yells at him," Peter snickered. "It's been six years and he hasn't died yet."_

"_Maybe this time I'll get lucky," Sirius winked at James who sighed and sank lower in his chair as Lily and the girls caught sight of the Marauders. _

_He glared at Sirius, "I told you we shouldn't have – hello, Lilyflower," he turned to her and put on his most charming smile, "I love the new look. Really brings out your gorgeous eyes."_

"_You __dyed all __our _clothes!" _she __snarled __at __him, __gesturing __to __her __friends __who __were __currently __ripping __in to __the __other __Marauders __for __their __outfits. __Lily__'__s __clothes __were __all dyed __a __sparkling __emerald __green __(James__'__s __choice; __he __really __did __think __it __brought __out __her __eyes), __while __Nikki __had __fluoro __pink __robes __and __Mary__'__s __were __a __blinding __yellow._

"_Well _I _didn__'__t.__" __James __defended __himself,__ "__It __was __all __Sirius__'__s __doing, __I __swear. __I __just __chose __the __colours.__" __He __winked __but __then __had __to __duck __immediately __as __Lily__'__s __hand __swung __perilously __close __to __his __head.__ "__Really __Evans, __violence __is __never __the __answer.__" __He __reprimanded._

_Lily glared at him, "Just tell me how to change them back before I pummel you to the ground."_

"_Ask Sirius."_

"_BLACK!" Lily immediately rounded on Sirius, "How do we change our clothes back?"_

"_Don't bother, Lil," Mary sighed, "Nikki and I have already asked and the asshole wouldn't tell us—"_

"_I think 'ask' is a bit of a stretch," Sirius pointed out, "it was more like tortured."_

_Nikki stepped towards him menacingly, "Believe me, Black, you haven't even begun to experience the torture I am capable of. If you prank us one more time, I swear to Merlin you will have real problems upholding your 'Best Shagger' title."_

"_But Williamson," Sirius smirked, "I know you wouldn't want to torture yourself as well. Someone like you wouldn't survive being abstinent from me."_

"_SOMEONE LIKE ME?" Nikki shrieked, lunging at him._

_Sirius ducked under the table in a practiced move, while Mary had to grab Nikki from behind before she raged around, destroying the furniture like the Hulk._

"_I hate to detract from this important argument," Remus stepped in, "But don't you think its strange McGonagall isn't here yet. She's usually halfway through the lesson by the time we arrive."_

_For a small moment, there was a confused silence amongst the group as everyone looked around, waiting for McGonagall to walk in and demand her usual silence._

_Then Nikki yelled, "Screw her, I want to KILL BLACK!" and raced from her spot too fast for Mary to catch her._

"_I'm too hot to die!" Sirius squealed, weaving between the desks and amused students before running behind James for protection._

_Nikki paced in front of James, glaring at the top of Sirius's head that was poking over his protector's shoulder. "Potter, I suggest you move so I can kill your friend. I don't want to have to kill you as well – I'll leave you for Lily."_

"_Now, Nik, do you really want to do this?" James held out his hands to her, holding her off._

"_Yes, I really do." She growled._

"_Okay," James shrugged, and gave a smooth step to the left, effectively leaving Sirius helpless._

_Sirius gave a squeak before taking off again, Nikki's nails just managing to scape the back of his robes. "PRONGS!" Sirius yelled as he ran from Nikki, circling the classroom._

"_Padfoot, I tried to tell you not to dye their clothes, but you wouldn't listen," James laughed, sitting on his chair lazily._

_Just as Lily and Mary managed to restrain their murderous friend, an irritatingly familiar voice sounded out above the racket. _

"_Oh look, there's a rainbow in our classroom," Snape snickered, eyeing the girls' clothes in amusement. _

_James was instantly on his feet again, hands clenched into fists at his side. "What do you want Snivellus?"_

_Snape looked at him condescendingly, "I'm just admiring your handiwork, Potter. You really know how to brighten up someone's day, don't you?"_

"_Shut your face, Snape." Sirius snapped, "nobody asked for your opinion. And thanks, by the way – you don't often admire our pranks."_

_Rolling his eyes, Snape said, "That's because they're most often directed at me, Black. It's a nice change to see you inflict some pain on others who are more deserving."_

"_What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Mary demanded, her voice increasing in volume swiftly._

"_Mary, don't," Lily stepped toward her, placing a hand on her arm, "he's not worth it. It's the Marauders we should be mad at."_

_Something flashed across Snape's face, his eyes softened and the corner of his mouth turned up before it was replaced by a hard sneer, "Thank Merlin someone in this room as some common sense. Ironic that it should come from a—"_

"_You better not finish that sentence," James growled, "If you say the word I know you're going to say, I will not be responsible for my actions, Snivellus."_

"_You certainly will be." A completely different voice rung out across the room, full of authority, but it was not McGonagall's._

_Everyone turned, having not noticed the door open in the heat of the moment. At the back of the room, watching the scene fold out in front of her was a tall, blonde witch in dark purple robes. She was a whole lot younger then anyone expected, and a lot prettier then all of the other Professors at Hogwarts combined, but something about her face held power and authority._

"_You're not McGonagall," Sirius stated rudely, frowning at the newcomer._

"_Thank you for stating the obvious, young man. I can only assume that you are Sirius Black?" The woman smirked at him slightly. Sirius gave a small start but nodded. The woman's smirk grew more pronounced, "Professor McGonagall warned me about you. So far you have only been slightly obnoxious, but the day is still young."_

_Sirius frowned at that, not completely understanding her implications, but Remus and Lily snickered softly behind him._

_The woman swept to the front of the room, before turning and facing the class. She raised an eyebrow, "Do you usually spend the entire lesson standing, or just until the fights are over?" Everyone immediately scattered from the small circle that had been around James and Snape as they faced off. "I didn't think so," she smiled._

"_My name is Elizabeth Radcliffe, but I will not respond to anything but Professor Radcliffe," she said once everyone was seated, "Professor McGonagall is unable to teach you for the next few weeks so I agreed to take her place and continue your studies until she has returned. She has briefed me on this class a little. And from the small amount of student interaction I have seen," she looked pointedly at the Marauders, "I can see she was not exaggerating."_

"_Minnie's been bragging about our awesomeness, has she?" James laughed, nudging Peter who was sitting beside him. Peter snickered and nodded, even though he really didn't know what he was laughing about._

_Radcliffe turned her eyes to James, who had the sense to sink a little lower in his chair under her intimidating gaze, "You must be James Potter," She said, "Professor McGonagall warned me about you also. I see you pranked these helpless girls recently," she motioned to Lily, Nikki and Mary who were all sitting sullenly in their ridiculously bright robes, "And I must inform you Potter that she did not mention your 'awesomeness' at all to me. However, I'm pretty sure the words 'arrogant, infuriating, pranking jokesters' came up."_

_The rest of the class laughed while the Marauders scowled. McGonagall was one of their favourite teachers, mainly for her ability to handle the teasing, and simultaneously make them work. As a result, being a substitute teacher for McGonagall was always a dangerous job as it increased your chances of being pranked remarkably – all teachers knew that._

_But Professor Radcliffe was determined to prove herself as a teacher, and one who could be as respected (and feared) by the students as Professor McGonagall. All the other teachers in the school scoffed and said "Yeah, good luck with that" behind her back, but she was stubborn and wouldn't rest until she had reached her goal._

_So far, she was doing well on the fear part, but the respect aspect…not so much._

"_You __better __watch __it, _Lizzie,_" __Sirius __was __taunting __Radcliffe,__ "__You __might __just __wake __up __tomorrow __morning __and __find __a __bunch __of __porcupines __in your __bed.__"_

_Radcliffe glared, "If you do that, Black, I will spare no time in contacting Professor McGonagall and demanding that she come back and lock you in her office until you have eaten the entire box of ginger newts before making you lick all the trophies in the Trophy Cabinet clean."_

_Sirius immediately paled and sunk further into his seat. He suddenly had the feeling that he wasn't going to like this teacher at all. He had an unhealthy appreciation of Professor McGonagall, or his 'Minnie', as he called her. Then and there, Sirius decided that if this Lizzie person didn't stop acting like a cow then he was going to make her life miserable until his Minnie came back. _

_With that thought, he raised himself from his low position in his seat and smiled in anticipation. While he pretended to listen to Professor Radcliffe's lecture, his mind began to run wild. He had to decide which prank would be most appropriate for this new unwelcome professor and oh, the options…_

"_Thank Merlin we're finally out on our missions again," Sirius whispered to his fellow Marauders as they scampered down the corridors of Hogwarts. He couldn't wait to restart their pranks again. He almost laughed in anticipation of seeing Lizzie's face tomorrow morning._

_It was almost midnight, and the moon shining through the windows was just enough for the four of them to be able to see obstacles like suits of armour and walls before they crashed into them. Well, for most of them – Peter had crashed into so many walls with his poor eyesight that James was now forced to piggy-back him all the way to their destination to prevent him from making more noise and getting them caught._

"_Padfoot, can you please stop referring to our pranks as 'missions'?" Remus sighed, studying the Marauders map with the limited light his wand provided, "We're not James Bond."_

"_James who?"_

"_Never mind."_

"_And it hasn't been that long since we've last pranked," James huffed from beneath the weight of the small elephant he was carrying…I mean Peter. "It was only last Tuesday."_

"_That was 9 days ago, Prongs!" Sirius cried, then immediately lowering his voice when his friends hissed at him to be quiet, "that's way too long between fun. The school's been far too peaceful if you ask me."_

"_Most people really enjoy that peace," Remus muttered._

"_Well, we're not most people," Sirius said, running up a flight of stairs as it moved, "And life here is so boring when the Slytherins aren't yelling abuse at us for turning all their hair into seaweed."_

_Peter__snickered,__ "__That _was _a __fun __week.__"_

"_Besides," Sirius was on a roll now, "Lizzie is really starting to annoy me. She's trying too hard to be Minnie, but no one can replace the true, wonderful Minnie McGonagall."_

"_Padfoot, I really think you should stop calling Professor Radcliffe Lizzie," James puffed, his face now red and sweaty with exertion as he clambered up the stairs while Peter lounged comfortably on his back, "I'm starting to think she may want to kill you."_

_Remus opened his mouth to say something but James cut him off with a grin, "Don't worry Moony, I've already added her to the list."_

"_What list?" Sirius asked curiously._

"_The list of people who would happily kill you if given the chance," Peter said, "We started it in second year and it is now at a rather impressive length."_

"_Almost 6 feet of parchment," Remus added proudly._

_Sirius gaped as James even pulled the thick roll of parchment out of his pocket and handed it to his friend. Sirius scanned the list quickly with a frown on his face. He surveyed the whole thing, right down to the newest edition of 'Professor Lizzie Radcliffe'. "That's just ridiculous." He scoffed, "I can think of so many more people who want to kill me. Really guys, I'm disappointed."_

_They laughed as James tucked the list back into his pocket, "You can add to it when we get back to the dorms then, mate."_

"_Good," Sirius nodded, then held out the piles of bags in his arms "now let's get onto this prank. How many bags of pine cones are we using again?"_

_A familiar voice came out of nowhere, "I sincerely hope those pine cones are going back to the Forbidden Forest, Black."_

_The Marauders froze and Peter slid right of James's back in shock._

_They turned slowly to see Professor Radcliffe standing in a doorway wearing her purple pyjamas and looking at them wryly._

"_Um, well…" Sirius gulped._

"_Well? What are they for?" Radcliffe raised an eyebrow._

"_We're gonna turn the pine cones invisible and then cover the floor of the Great Hall with them!" Peter babbled before slapping his hand over his mouth. He always found his brain-to-mouth filter disappeared when in trouble with teachers. Remus, James and Sirius glared at him and he gave a sheepish smile._

_The corner of Radcliffe's mouth turned up. "Really? I would have glued them to the benches, personally. They would be very painful to sit on. But that's just me."_

_The Marauders gaped at her for a long moment. Slowly, they began to smile. "Lizzie," Sirius began gleefully, "Did you just help us with our prank?"_

"_No, Black, I just gave you my opinion," Radcliffe corrected sternly. There's a difference. And stop calling me Lizzie."_

"_Never!" _

_She rolled her eyes, looking like she was going to say something, but then seemed to think the better of it. Instead, she just turned and walked back down the corridor the way she came._

"_Wait, Lizzie!" James yelled as loudly as he could without waking anyone else, "Aren't you going to help us with our prank?"_

_She looked back at him blankly, "What prank?"_

_Their shocked expressions cracked her stern exterior. She grinned and winked, "I never saw anything." _

_The boys continued to stare at her as she walked away, their mouths open in surprise. "Did that just happen?" Remus said, unable to comprehend that a teacher just caught them in the middle of a prank and purposefully turned a blind eye. "Wormtail, pinch me. I have to make sure I'm not dreaming. OW!" he jumped, rubbing his arm and glared at his friend._

_Peter was confused, "You told me too."_

"_Right, um…" James shook his head to clear it, rather befuddled with the latest development. "That was weird. Obviously she's a cooler teacher then you thought, Pads."_

"_I know, how strange." He mused, "A Transfiguration teacher ignoring our pranks, that's unheard of!" _

_He was slightly annoyed. He had been so looking forward to pranking her, but then she went and showed off how awesomely helpful she could be. Damn her for spoiling his plans. Luckily, Sirius had the attention span of a three year old, and got over this predicament quickly._

"_Ah well, I think we run with her suggestion, don't you, boys?"_

_They grinned at each other before continuing on to the Great Hall. Their grins remained on their faces for the rest of the night. Tomorrow was going to be a good day._

_There was havoc in the Great Hall when the Marauders eventually strolled in, rather late for breakfast. Having been out all night, they allowed themselves to sleep in, also knowing that they wanted to have the full impact of their tricks when they got the breakfast the next day._

_The four of them stood in the doorway for a moment, surveying the damage they had created with identical smug smirks on their faces. Girls were shrieking in pain whenever they tried to sit down, and boys had turned over the benches or were bashing them into the ground in some poor effort to rid the spiky cones from the normally comfortable surface._

_The teachers had all resigned themselves to eating whilst standing, most of them lounging against the walls. None of them looked particularly bothered with the mayhem in the hall. They had tried to exert their authority early on and stop students sitting down, but it had been no use, and they all had given up. Besides, these pranks were a regular occurrence and most of the staff found them amusing, particularly Slughorn and Dumbledore, who smiled at the boys when they walked in. Only one teacher was sitting down comfortably._

_When Professor Radcliffe noticed the boys standing in the doorway, she gave a small smile and toasted her goblet to them casually. They had purposefully left her chair un-pine coned, as a thank you for the wonderful idea._

"_Brilliant, just brilliant." James whispered to his friends as they headed towards the Gryffindor table, "This is absolutely fantastic."_

"_The pinecones on the floor wouldn't have had nearly the effect," Remus agreed._

_Sirius gasped, "Maybe we should ask for Lizzie's help on all our pranks!"_

_Remus had opened his mouth to say, 'No Padfoot, that's a stupid idea' when Nikki stormed right up to the four of them, annoyance written all over features._

"_You did this, didn't you?"_

"_Aw, why do you have to always assume it was us, Williamson?" Sirius whined._

"_Well, was it you?"_

"…_yes."_

"_That's why!" She glared at them, "This is the most annoying prank, you prats. Why ruin breakfast for everyone?"_

_The Marauders looked at each other before shrugging in unison. "Because its fun." James said._

"_And because we can," Peter pointed out._

"_Besides, we often ruin breakfast for the Slytherins and you never seem to mind, Nikki," Remus said, "If I'm not mistaken, you usually laugh."_

_Nikki blinked at him, stumped for a moment. "I…well, I…why aren't you being yelled at yet?"_

"_But we are." Peter said blankly, "you're yelling at us."_

"_I mean by a teacher!"_

_Lily and Mary had just gotten up and joined the conversation, evidently bored with not getting their share of ripping into the boys. "Yeah, why aren't the teachers giving you detentions and things?" Mary wondered._

"_Because they're all secretly amused by our pranks but just won't admit it. Besides, Minnie is usually the one to hand out the punishments left right and centre," James laughed, "And she's not here."_

"_Then I'll get Professor Radcliffe," Lily said smugly, waiting for the cheeky expressions on the boys faces to change to one of horror and fear._

_Naturally, she was extremely irritated to find they did not change. If anything, their grins got wider._

"_By all means, bring Lizzie down here." Sirius chuckled, anticipating the shocked look on Lily's face when the teacher came down and did not yell at them like everyone was expecting._

"_Fine," she huffed, turning on her heel and marching up to the teachers table._

"_Fine." Sirius echoed, even if she was now out of earshot. "This is going to be so good," he murmured to his friends, who nodded in agreement._

"_What's going to be good?" Mary couldn't help but asking. Unfortunately, she didn't get an answer because that was when Radcliffe found her way to the group, Lily trailing behind with a smile._

_Professor Radcliffe faced them sternly, not even cracking a smile while all four boys continued grinning at her. "What are you lot looking so happy about?" She demanded, "you look as if I've come to give you a present, not to punish you for this immature prank you've pulled."_

"_Punish us?" James asked, his smile fading slightly, "But you were the one who hel—"_

"_I most certainly am going to punish you!" Radcliffe cut him off, giving him a glare that caused his insides to wither slightly, "You have acted foolishly and selfishly by using the pain of the rest of the school for your own personal amusement. Miss Evans is certainly right, Professor McGonagall may not be here, but seeing as I am her substitute, I believe it is within my rights to punish you as she would have."_

_The boys paled noticeably, "Oh, Lizzie," Sirius tried to charm her, "Don't be silly, you don't really mean that."_

"_I definitely do!" She marched forward out the doors, "Come along boys, lets go for a little trip, shall we?"_

"_A trip," Remus repeated warily, "Where to?"_

"_To McGonagall's office," Radcliffe replied, a slight smile in her voice, "I believe there is a large tin of Ginger Newts that are just asking to be eaten."_

_The boys followed her, shoulders slumped and heads down. As soon as they turned the corner and were out of earshot from everyone else, Sirius stopped walking and looked up at Radcliffe, "Alright Lizzie, that was very convincing, but can we go now and just tell everyone you gave us detentions for a week or something?"_

"_Certainly not, Black, I truly do think you need to be punished."_

"_So, __we __actually _are _going __to __McGonagall__'__s __office?__" __Peter __whispered __in __fear._

"_Indeed we are, Pettigrew. I do not joke about such things – COME BACK BLACK!" Radcliffe suddenly whipped out her wand in order to drag Sirius back. He had tried to flee from the group, and had managed to get a good distance away before Radcliffe's charm reached him and he was physically dragged along the ground, struggling the whole way._

"…_hate Ginger Newts…helped us…not being punished…hate Ginger Newts…" could be heard by the group in between unattractive grunting and whimpers of pain._

"_Come along, Black." Radcliffe muttered, continuing to drag him along the ground, all the way to McGonagall's office (up several flights of stairs, I might add) and only released him when the door was shut firmly behind them._

_As soon as the door slammed shut, Radcliffe rounded on them, "That was a very immature prank to pull! You could have seriously hurt some students, all of them innocent! I am frankly astounded that you have been allowed to pull these pranks in the past, but certainly not while I'm present! You shall have two weeks worth of detentions, with me personally, so I can keep an eye on the four of you of nights to ensure these tricks do not happen again!"_

_The boys stared at her in shock, eyes wide and mouths hanging open._

_Then, suddenly, Radcliffe smiled and her voice became a great deal softer. "Well, now that's over with, how did you manage to get all those pinecones to not come off the seats? I've been dying to know all morning."_

_The boys continued to stare, now all the more confused and unable to follow her sudden change of mood. Several minutes passed before Remus was able to gather his thoughts enough to say, quite articulately, "Um, what?"_

"_Yeah, what Moony said." James added, rubbing his forehead._

"_You obviously weren't aware, but you're little girlfriends have been following us since we left the Great Hall," Radcliffe chuckled, "They weren't very sneaky about it so I'm surprised you didn't notice. Actually, thinking about it, I'm not that surprised. Anyway, I had to throw them off somehow didn't I?"_

"_So, all the yelling and detentions…" Remus trailed off in question._

"_They were listening at the door, waiting to see how you would be punished obviously. I think I satisfied them. You really aren't in their good books."_

_James snorted, "Now you're just stating the obvious."_

_Sirius's smile was slowly growing, as were the blue bruises on the whole right side of his face from being dragged across the floor. "So, we're not punished?"_

"_Well, I do think you should be punished slightly. I'll give you a week of detentions with Hagrid, but tell everyone you got at least two." Radcliffe winked, knowing that the boys didn't mind hanging out with Hagrid._

"_You're the best teacher ever, Lizzie!" James grinned._

"_Don't call me Lizzie," she grumbled, but was ignored. "But really, how did you manage to get those pinecones so strongly stuck on?"_

_The boys filled her in on their entire prank, and Radcliffe wasn't ashamed to admit she felt slight admiration for them and their creative minds. They were a little like geniuses in disguise. With the exception of Sirius, of course, but his enthusiasm more then made up for this lack of common sense and attention span._

_Eventually, Lizzie farewelled the boys from the office but only with the iron-clad promise of not performing any more pranks for at least a week so it would seem she had scared them slightly. They scoffed at that and insisted that the Marauders were never scared, but then hastily agreed when she began to open the tin of Ginger Newts._

"_Oh and Potter?" Radcliffe called before the boys left._

_James turned with his eyebrows raised expectantly._

"_I don't really think that you should continue sitting with Sirius in Transfiguration, at least for the duration of my stay here."_

"_What? Why?" Both James and Sirius demanded._

"_Well, frankly you're very irritating." Radcliffe said plainly, "You never listen and you annoy me and others around you. You disrupt my class and don't make me look at all good. So, I'm moving you."_

"_Where to?" James asked sullenly, knowing that she couldn't be argued with._

"_From now on you shall sit next to Miss Evans," Radcliffe smiled, "and Miss Williamson will be placed next to you, Black."_

_Both boys groaned. "Lizzie, that's really not a good idea," James insisted, "We will have killed each other by the end of the day!"_

"_Well that's just not true," Radcliffe replied, "it's only for the lesson. Someday you might thank me for it."_

"_I doubt that." James mumbled, but both he and Sirius nodded their heads and the boys trudged out of the office, feeling rather happy and being very confused by that._

_Before Remus left, Radcliffe managed to get his attention. "When they get married, you let me know alright?" _

_His mouth slowly split into a knowing grin. "You're the bomb," he replied, high-fiving her quickly before running out of the room to catch up to his friends._

"So that's why she was at our wedding!" Lily exclaimed, eyeing Remus wryly. He grinned and nodded, not at all shy to admit it.

"I hate it when she knows better then us." Sirius grumbled, but his annoyed tone was ruined by his smile.

James smiled down at Lily, "We really should thank her."

* * *

**It's so lovely to be back in the fanfic world. I have lots more time to write now as school's out for the summer so hopefully there will be more chapters and tid bits from Above and maybe other places popping up here soon so stick around and let me know what you think! xx**


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